Haram Church

Haram Church (

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432, but it was not new at that time. The first Haram Church was a wooden stave church that was located on the west coast of the island of Haramsøya, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest of the present church site. The church was possibly built in the 14th century. In 1668, the stave church was described as having a rectangular nave with a choir (on the east end) and porch (on the west end) with a hallway around the whole building.^[3][4]

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke).^[5][6] 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.^[5][7]

Over time, the church became dilapidated and in need of repair or replacement. In the 1830s, it was decided to build a new church, however it would be built on the other side of the island which is where most of the island's residents lived. The new site was about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away from the old, medieval church site. In 1838, a new Haram Church was completed in the village of

• List of churches in Møre

References