Bremanger Church

Bremanger Church (Bremanger kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bremanger on the island of Bremangerlandet. It is the church for the Bremanger parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1914 by the architect Anders Karlsen from Eid. The church seats about 400 people. The church was originally called Bremangerpollen Chapel. The name was changed to Bremanger Church in 1952. The church is located at Hauge, in the innermost part of the Bremangerpollen bay. The church was consecrated on 4 September 1914 by the bishop Johan Willoch Erichsen.

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1330, but it was likely not new at that time. The first church in Bremanger was a wooden stave church tat was located at Grotle, on the southwest shore of the island of Bremangerlandet, about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) west of the village of Bremanger. This church was likely first built during the 13th century. In 1652, the church was remodeled and expanded such that it then had a cruciform design. In 1695, the church was torn down and replaced by a new timber-framed building. This new church was built immediately west of the site of the old building. This building was in use until 1865, when the aging church at Grotle was torn down. At that time, it was decided to move the location of the Bremanger parish church from Grotle to the village of Kalvåg which was further to the south so that it would be more centrally located within the parish. The new Bremanger Church was completed in 1865. The people living in the northern part of Bremangerlandet island were now without a nearby church of their own. The new Bremanger Church to the south, on the island of Frøya was nearly 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south. The people who lived further north on the island complained that the journey to that church had become too long and strenuous. Going by boat from Bremangerlandet to Frøya was often a risky undertaking, which kept people from going to church.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).