Gestad
Coordinates: 58°32′51″N 12°26′53″E / 58.54748°N 12.44796°E
Gestad is a parish in the Dalsland part of Vänersborg Municipality, Sweden, located about 20 km north of the city of Vänersborg and 10 km east of the village Brålanda. The parish includes both farmland and forests. It has its border with the great lake Vänern in the east and is in the middle of Dalbo plain.
At the location of a former church (300 m north of the present church) there is a monument in honor to the old church and of Lieutenant General Axel Erik Roos, who is buried on the site. The monument was erected in 1919. Roos was an officer in the army of King Karl XII and is well known for having three times the same day saved the life of the king during the so-called kalabaliken (skirmish) in Bender, Moldova. Gestad was previously dominated by the manor Lövås situated around 1 km southeast of the church. The parish was previously known for the extensive cultivation of oats. Oats were exported in the late 19th century, to a large extent, inter alia, to the London area (horse fodder). The Gestad area has been characterised by the words: "Heaven and oats".
Church attendance has previously been high in Gestad. In the parish there are two churches belonging to the Church of Sweden - Gestad and Timmervik churches - and also a mission chapel that is of interest.
In Gestad church, built 1796-1799 and consecrated in 1800, is a very old baptismal font ("dopfunt") in sandstone. It is known that it was made sometime in the 12th or 13th century. There is also a ”dopfat” made in Nuremberg, Germany at the end of the 15th century, donated to the church by General Roos´ family.
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