Hyllestad Church


Hyllestad Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Hyllestad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hyllestad. It is one of the three churches for the Hyllestad parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1879 using designs by the architect Johannes Henrik Nissen. The church seats about 300 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1322. The original building was likely a stave church and it was located at the Hyllestad farm, about northeast of the present location at the foot of the mountain Kyrkjefjellet. The exact date of the original construction is not known, but the baptismal font in the church is dated from the 12th century, so it is possible the church was built at that time. In 1681, the old building was torn down and replaced by a timber-framed building. The new church had a nave that measured and a choir that measured. The church had a tower attached as well. In 1720, the church received a new tower spire.
By the mid- to late-1800s, the space at the old church site and cemetery was too small and could not be exanded. In 1880, a new church site was chosen at Myklebust, a little to the south of the old church site. The old church was torn down and the cemetery and stone fence that encircled the yard were left in place, but it was no longer used.
The new Hyllestad Church is a wooden, basilica church. The building was consecrated on 23 November 1880.