Hov Church


Hov Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sunndal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Sunndalsøra. It is the church for the Hov parish which is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1887 by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 300 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432. In 1647, the church burned down to the ground. A new church was completed on the same location the following year. It was a timber-framed building with a cruciform design. In 1661, the building was described as a well-maintained building without towers or spire. As time progressed, it was poorly maintained and in 1725 it collapsed during a heavy autumn storm. The following year, a new timber-framed, cruciform building was constructed to replace the old building.
In March 1727, the new church was almost completely destroyed by snow, but it was still in use until 1729. Then, in 1729, the church was rebuilt again using the same designs using the materials from the destroyed church. The building was well maintained for many years, but in 1849 it was severely damaged by strong, fall winds. In 1864, a new church was built on the outside of the cemetery fence. It was an elongated timber building with an octagonal ground floor, a sacristy in the east and a porch in the west. This new building was completely destroyed in 1883-1885 by several strong winds. The present church was erected on the same location in 1887. This new church is a timber-framed "long church" design.