Atrå Church

About

Atrå Church (Norwegian: Atrå kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Atrå. It is one of the churches for the Tinn parish which is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1836 using plans drawn up by the architect Hans Linstow. The church seats about 300 people.

History: The first church at Atrå was a wooden stave church that was built during the 12th century. Legend says that the church was consecrated in 1180 by Bishop Ragnar of the Ancient Diocese of Hamar. We know quite a bit about what the church looked like. A drawing that was probably made at the time it was demolished shows some of it, and memories from those who remember the church were also written down. Particularly important was the story of Hellek H. Husevold, who said that there were three doors, to the north, south, and west. The door to the south was quite narrow and you could see the marks of knife sheaths that had scraped against the frame as people walked through it. There were two steps up to get from the nave to the chancel...