Sandsøy Church


Sandsøy Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Sandsøy on the island of Sandsøya. It is one of the churches for the Bjarkøy og Sandsøy parish which is part of the Trondenes prosti in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1888 by the architect Ole Scheistrøen. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The original Sandsøy Church was built on the island in the 1200s. The church was subordinate to the Trondenes Church parish until 1731 when it became its own parish. In 1750, the church was described as a log building with a cruciform design. That church was torn down in 1765 and its materials were sold in an auction. A new cruciform church was built on the site in 1766 to serve the parish. During the 1800s, the nearby Bjarkøy Church on the neighboring island of Bjarkøya was torn down and without a church. In the 1880s, it was decided to close Sandsøy Church and move the building to Bjarkøya. So in 1885-1886, the building was disassembled and moved to the neighboring island of Bjarkøya, where it is located in the village of Nergården and it is now called Bjarkøy Church. At that point, there was no longer a Sandsøy Church, but the residents wanted a church on their island, so they built a new Sandsøy Church in 1888. That building is still in use as the Sandsøy Church.