Hemse stave church

The Stave Church Hemse is a newly found church Hemse on Gotland, which was built in the palisade construction and is therefore called stave church. Before the present church was built by Hemse, stood in the same place a stave church, which had been in the 11th century or possibly the beginning of the 12th century, at least, built in the early phase of the Christian era Gotland. The powerful and richly decorated oak planks were used as flooring in the stone church and rediscovered in 1896. The parts store today ( 2007) in a storage room of the Stockholm Historical Museum, and only a part of the church was built. It is believed that the parts come from a church that stood at the site of present-day stone church was demolished because it had become too small for the congregation. Stave Church Hemse is the only reasonably complete preserved early medieval stave church, which was found in Sweden. Stave Church Hedared outside Borås in Västergötland is the only intact late medieval stave church in Sweden and dated to about 1500. Today, the same place is a stone church ( Church of Hemse ), whose foundation stone was laid in the early 13th century.

The Fund

The present church was restored in 1896 by Hemse by the architect Erik Lallerstedt and the architect Nils Pettersson. One of the first measures was the replacement of the floor in the nave. During this work, it was discovered that the lower sides of the wide Oak planks were rounded. The builder reported this discovery to the Riksantikvarieämbetet. The Office commissioned in a row Emil Ekhoff to investigate the Fund. In his work, Svenska stavkyrkor Ekhoff wrote:

( Translation of the quote:

The planks obtained were carefully studied in order to reconstruct the appearance of the original church can. The result was of Ekhoff in the book stavkyrkor Svenska ( Swedish stave churches ) published from 1914 to 1916.

The stave church was first reconstructed in the National Museum on Blasieholm like a puzzle, but it was too big. The west façade with a portal could be issued.

Material

The find consisted mainly of components made of oak:

• Six coarse beam ( thresholds) of different length, and nearly square cross section.
• Two bars ( upper edges of wall ) with slightly smaller dimensions and a rectangular cross -section.
• 38 about three meters long planks ( planks wall ) with flat - convex cross -section (one side flat, one convex).
• Six shorter plank with the same shape as the 38 long planks.
• Two convex planks of the portal, which are richly decorated with ornaments and a piece of a third similar plank.
• A thin board (wood connection).
• A flat plank having a groove on one side.
• A frayed ornament.
• A column capital (possibly center column ) from Scots pine wood.
• A plank with ground circuits ( Scots pine wood).

There is a 5-6 cm deep groove as well as traces of a wooden compound, which was used for mating with the opposite beam at the ends on the top of the bars. The bars are tarred, suggesting that they have located within the palisades planks.

There are only two pieces of wood that have formed the top of a wall. They are 9 × 17 m in length and 35 cm in cross section. Along the top surface, recesses for nine roof beams available, of which the outer ones are slightly larger than the inner. On the bottom there is a continuous groove along the wall planks. On the outside there is an ornament in the shape of five circles arranged in a cross shape. There were also traces of tar on the outside.

One of the pine wood pieces has the same circular pattern as the capital. Along one edge is a fold, which is terminated at both ends with a wide depression. At this plank can be found as the capital no traces of tar.

The wall planks have suffered through the use of the floor of the stone church great damage. Not one remained intact. Some of them have been shortened and partially flattened in order to reuse as floorboards. The planks are wide and thick and have each one straight and one curved side. Not to colonel have the planks a few inches deep recess over the entire width. The planks are curved outward and run toward the rod pointed to. Along the long sides of the planks have a 4-5 cm deep and 3-4 cm wide groove which is provided for a loose wood joint that holds together the planks tight. In order that the planks could be reused as floor boards, the grooves were removed at some planks.

All wall planks have ornaments on the outside in the form of circles in groups of six. The same ornaments are locate on the beams that formed the tops of the walls and on the planks in the tower of the Church of Alskog. Of these planks is also believed that they were wall planks of an earlier stave church construction once. This circle ornament is also found on medieval furniture from this period.

On most planks are traces of tar found. Ekhoff suspected that the amount of tar can give to the individual planks information as to where was the plank in the building and whether it was placed on the north side or the south side. On the north side of the tar has almost covered the ornaments while they are completely gone on the south side. Ekhoff thought that these and similar wear damage indicate that the stave church must have already survived a long time.

The portal

The portal is severely damaged because it had been used as a floor plank. What could be rescued, two are decorated with ornaments side planks and a small piece of the fall. The motives may be in a connection with the animal motifs that are found on rune stones. Some designs also have striking similarities with the portals of other stave churches, such as the stave church Torpo. The planks in the portal, like the wall planks provided within the building, with grooves along the side and with loose wood joints. At the largest plank left portal you will find the traces of a hinge.

When the church was reconstructed, the portal seemed to be a lack constructed. The ornaments on the left side of the door opening should continue in a much more compressed sheet and not as complete as in a classic arch.

We also found a leftover piece of wood that had no recognizable function. It is believed, therefore, that it belongs to the Church of jewelry and was positioned in the roof of the church. There is no evidence for it.

Ground plan

The thresholds are maintained in their full length, thereby making it possible to reconstruct the length and width of the building. The bar, which should be between nave and choir, is missing. In addition, half of the south wall of the chancel is missing. The church's interior measures 11.1 m, the vessel is 7.7 m long and 4.6 m wide. The choir is 3.4 m long and 3.1 m wide.

The bars are not eineinander entangled as in a log cabin, but removed in half and connected with wooden dowels.

The thresholds have not only the dimensions of the building, but also where the entrance was. An opening measuring 85 cm, has no groove in the threshold, and it has been assumed that there has been the portal. There are no other traces of a door. It has also found no traces of an input to the choir, but since part of the south wall is missing, possibly may have been right in the missing part of another input.

The walls can be almost completely reconstructed from the obtained material with the exception of the joining of the corners. All planks had on both sides of a groove and a thinner wood loose connection she has put together. Radicals of this compound timber were still present in one of the planks and even individual connectors was found.

An important detail is that the thresholds were provided with a groove. It is believed that the planks had an opposite wood compound was in the grooves. Such a hanging construction is sufficient if the material has a matching counterpart. But it has found no trace of attachment of the planks. The construction protected the threshold against wind and weather, and only the wall planks had to be tarred.

The corner construction is relatively little known. The only thing that is obvious is that piles of the same kind did not come as in the Norwegian stave churches used. Ekhoff was considering several alternatives, but he dropped the Greensted Church in Essex (England) as a model for a possible solution before. There are corner posts strong piles that are cut off at an angle, so that the tips point inwards and are rounded towards the outside. The corner posts resting in the same way as the other planks in the groove of the threshold. Whether they were pointed upwards, but he could not say.

The wall planks ranged in the gable is not up to the roof ridge, but closed with a bar top edge of the wall. It has been found from the gables any material that could prove how they looked like. One can assume but that the relationship with the Norwegian stave churches also attracts similarities in the structure according to. Perhaps the gable may have been covered with thinner material.

Connection of the choir to the nave (ship)

In many Norwegian stave churches rods were used as a transition between the choir and nave. These are in the east of the nave, in the south-western and north-western corner of the choir. In Hemse this technique was not used, but a special timber member (Norwegian tile ) with an additional groove. One of these is preserved and clearly shows how the assembly had been made. This device ( tile ) had on the round outer side an additional groove that fits to the other wall sections and running over the entire length. It is clear that this was the design for the choir, because there has been no other protruding element such as a vestibule, a sacristy or a weapons storehouse. Ekhoff says of the obtained component ( tile ) that it had based the southwest corner of the choir.

It is believed that the outer corners of the choir had the same construction as the ship of the nave.

The original length of the wall divider ( norwegian veggtile ) and thus the height of the ship has Ekhoff calculated with 4.20 m, with a rod length of 4.45 m. Choral walls are calculated to 3.60 m, 85 cm less than the height of the ship. This may be related with the height difference in the stave church in Hedared where there are 90 cm.

Although the material is rich, but many open questions remain. Were there any openings to let in light? How was the roof constructed? Ekhoff holds because of similarities with the Norwegian stave churches placed high up round openings for the most likely, if there was any openings. He thinks that window glass were unlikely at the time in Northern Europe and that the light in the room came from candles. In the obtained material is no trace of any window.

Roof

Ekhoffs reconstruction of the roof is of the same type as in medieval Guard. The original roof is not obtained, and therefore the uncertainty about the design is great and very little information can be read from the material. The underlying rods from the north and south walls have recesses for seven roof beams. These also have additional marks, which indicate that the outer bar had heads that could have served to hold the walls in place.

The Norwegian stave churches have roof trusses, which are richly decorated, but none is as old as of Hemse. This makes it difficult to find a direct relationship. Instead, it seems right, how to use Ekhoff a medieval roof truss Guard. He has adopted in its reconstruction of the outer roof that there are continuous along planks, which he has concluded that there is this also in some of the oldest stave churches in Norway. In Garde there are many of these sub- roofs under a blanket of tar. Ekhoff thinks that the same method could have been used in Hemse.

It can be found opposite cushion capitals of Scots pine wood, which are executed with a short rod. On the two sides of the capital itself undamaged circle ornaments of the same kind are like on the wall divider ( veggtile ). The core of the rod is pierced with a 4.5 cm hole. From the dimensions of which acts as the rod would be the same as the walls of the nave. Ekhoff assumed that this has helped to support the roof, but this was built later. The roof beams act somewhat undersized and perhaps even requiring additional support.

It may however be that the roof has been built along with the building. In some Norwegian stave churches of the roof is supported by strips with corresponding capitals. Such freestanding Stripes are the first in stave churches with an increased central open space, but in some churches you can find an exception. These are the churches of the central mast type, such as the stave church Uvdal stave church, which has a central mast supporting a roof skylights. In this case, the roof turret is a real tower. Perhaps the opposite capital can give evidence that the stave church Hemse has had a similar small tower.