Grip Stave Church

This cute little stave church is located at the highest point in the fishing village at the small island Grip. This is a 30 minutes/12 km ferry trip from from Kristiansund in Nordmøre, mid-Norway.

The church is on of the smallest in Norway. Only 12 meters (39 ft) long, 6.5 meters (21 ft) wide, and 6 meters (20 ft) high. It is also the most remote of our remaining stave churches.

History

The church was built in around the year 1470. You’ll find it at the island’s highest point, about 8 metres (26 ft) above sea level. The church is a Møre type stave church, being structurally similar to the larger Kvernes and Rødven stave churches. Because of the barren nature of the island, there is no cemetery on the church grounds. Bodies had to be buried elsewhere, such as in the cemetery of Bremsnes Church, over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away over open sea. In 1621, the church underwent major modifications when portions of the walls were rebuilt.

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway’s first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called “electors” who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.

A visit to Grip can easily be combined with a ride along the Scenic Route Atlantic Road.