Skei Church

Skei Church
Skei kirke
Skei Church Location in Nord-Trøndelag Skei Church Location in Nord-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 64°01′11″N 11°37′52″E / 64.0198°N 11.6312°E
Location	Steinkjer, Nord-Trøndelag
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Completed	1664
Specifications
Capacity	290
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Ogndal
Deanery	Nord-Innherad
Diocese	Diocese of Nidaros

Skei Church (Norwegian: Skei kirke) is a parish church in the municipality of Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ogndal. The church is part of the Ogndal parish in the Nord-Innherad deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros. The white wooden church was constructed in 1664, making it the oldest wooden church in Steinkjer.

History

Name Skei suggests that the place may have been a meeting place also in pre-Christian times. Skei means "contest or the event center," which probably suggests something about the use, even if the site is not known as a place of worship.

It is impossible to determine when the first church was built at Skei, but in historical records from 1490 "Skeide Sokn" is mentioned, and Olav Engelbrektsson has in its Domesday Book from 1530's referred to the farm "church Skeiid". Skei church is mentioned in connection with the will of the Crown (the King's property) by the Reformation (1536).

In 1725 the church was sold at auction, and the first private owner, Colonel Claus Janus Gedde who also bought Mære Church and Henning Church. Over the next 75 years, the church was owned in turn by Casper Heirich von Westerwald (1735-1772), Andrew Bull (owner for only two days), Jorgen Melbourne Westerfwaldt (1772-1776), Theodore Bergmann Holst (1776-1786), and David Andrew Gram (1786-1803).

In 1803, the local congregation bought the church for 3,150 rigsdalers, and then on 1 January 1901, the local municipality took over the ownership of the church.^[1]

See also

• List of churches in Nord-Trøndelag

References

1. "Skei kirke" (in Norwegian). Steinkjerleksikonet. Retrieved 2011-08-01.