Haukedalen Church

Haukedalen Church
Haukedalen kyrkje
View of the church
Haukedalen Church Location in Sogn og Fjordane county Show map of Sogn og Fjordane Haukedalen Church Location in Sogn og Fjordane county Show map of Norway
61°25′13″N 6°22′15″E / 61.42027°N 6.370833°E / 61.42027; 6.370833Coordinates: 61°25′13″N 6°22′15″E / 61.42027°N 6.370833°E / 61.42027; 6.370833
Location	Førde Municipality, Sogn og Fjordane
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Former name(s)	Haukedal Chapel
Consecrated	8 July 1885
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff
Completed	1885
Specifications
Capacity	120
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Holsen og Haukedalen
Deanery	Sunnfjord prosti
Diocese	Diocese of Bjørgvin

Haukedalen Church (Norwegian: Haukedalen kyrkje) is a parish church in Førde Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Haukedalen. The church is part of the Holsen og Haukedalen parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in 1885 by the architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff. The church, which seats about 120 people, was consecrated on 8 July 1885.

Haukedalen church is located at an elevation of 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, only Borgund Stave Church and Borgund Church in the municipality of Lærdal are higher in elevation. Haukedalen is also the church located farthest from the sea in all of Sogn og Fjordane county, 42 kilometres (26 mi) from the head of the Førdefjorden. But the community of Haukedalen is on the high ground of the Gaula river watershed, and it is geographically more closely connected to the municipality of Gaular. The Haukedalen people have always belonged to the parish of Førde, even though they had to cross the 543-metre (1,781 ft) high Rørvikfjellet pass in the Gaularfjellet mountains. Haukedalen is in the geographical centre of the county of Sogn og Fjordane and is thus both distant and central in location.

Historically, the residents of the Haukedalen valley were part of the parish of Holsen Church in the next valley over. However, large quantities of snow have stopped a good many church travelers across the mountain pass between Holsen and Haukedalen. There is a place called Likhillaren where people used to leave coffins if darkness or bad weather set in, while they were on their way to Holsen Church. Towards the end of the 17th century, they at long last got their own church at Haukedalen. It was built close to the lake Haukedalsvatnet. Before 1859, the vicar for the Førde parish came to Haukedalen only twice a year, around midsummer and on Michaelmas (29 September). Funerals were taken care of by the people in the village. It was practice to "sing out" the dead body at the home, then the coffin was buried at the churchyard. The church rituals had to wait until the next church service. The midsummer mass tradition is special, and it is something Haukedalen shares with other hill valleys, such as at Guddal. The midsummer mass is even today a day of celebration for people in the community. Since 1886, Haukedalen has had a church service about once a month.