– I guess I’m not exactly the person you imagine when you want to build a stave church, says Sandra Birkenes and laughs. She has got a brand new job, as a project manager, and is looking forward to taking on a job that no one has done before her. Recently, the new project manager got the key to his brand new office. The most important task will be to raise money to build a new stake church, a stone’s throw away from where Hylestad stake church once stood. The new stave church may be the first to be built in Norway in 1,000 years – in the old fashioned way. – I think challenges are fun, says Sandra Birkenes. Photo: Mairi Macdonald / news Have to use horse and ax But it’s no small job Birkenes has taken on. You can safely say that the work will be done the old-fashioned way. Everything from forest work to forging the weathercock at the top of the stave church, called the roof rider. The machine planer is replaced by an axe. The timber must be local. It even has to be transported by horse, not tractor. It must also be transported on frozen ground in order to recreate drag marks in the logs. They are also faced with extensive wood cutting work. The Hylestad portal is one of the best-known stave church portals we have. The carvings stood at the entrance to the churches. Carvings of this portal are even a motif on the crown piece. Can he handle this? Sandra Birkenes admits that she has received quite a few questions. Can the social anthropologist with a master’s in art photography manage this? He is not a carpenter or craftsman. She is still asked about “playing” at the pole, and besides, she is not from Setesdal. – Skepticism gives me motivation to “drive on”. The most important thing is that I have a group of fantastic professionals and craftsmen on the team. I am therefore confident that we will manage this. Hylestad stave church stood on this land until 1664 when it was demolished. The center of Rysstad and highway 9 lie directly across the river. In the Middle Ages there were over 1,000 stave churches in Norway, but many of them suffered the same fate as Hylestad stave church. Now there are only 28 left, and knowledge of these medieval buildings is dying out. Borgund stave church from 1181 stands out today as one of the best preserved stave churches in the country. Precisely for this reason, a reconstruction of this church in Setesdal will be built. In the beginning, this was only a local project. The foundation presented a price tag of NOK 40 million to build the church. A model was built and a professional day was held to create enthusiasm around the project. The stave church model becomes Model builder Marton Laksesvela is one of three enthusiasts who have built this stave church model. The framework clear – We have probably spent 750 to 800 hours building this model. It still says hundreds of hours of work, he says. Inside the church room, the church model has also placed small church figures to illustrate what it might look like inside the church. Actually a fiddle maker – This is how the roof should be fixed, says Laksesvela, who is a farmer and makes fiddles in addition to this model in his spare time. – Has been incredibly important – This model has been incredibly important in creating commitment to the project, says Sandra Birkenes. Over NOK 110 million Coincidentally, the Norwegian Institute of Crafts was at the same time looking for a plot of land on which they could build a stave church. – It was almost a bit of luck, says Birkenes. They had the plot, and now the collaboration is a fact. The stave church will be located between national road 9 and Setesdalsmuseet, which is on the left in the picture. At the top left is the Setesdal Building Conservation Centre. Photo: Tom-Richard Hanssen Olsen / news This has now become a major national project. Construction is set to start in 2024, and the belief that this stave church can become a reality has increased among both professionals and the local population. But the budget also has an increase. By almost three times. From NOK 40 to 112 million. – It is clear that this is a lot of money, but it is also a completely new project now. While before we only talked about construction costs, this will be a six-year long race in which almost 1,000 craftsmen will be involved. They want to learn more about a craft tradition that is dying out, says Birkenes. She mentions that the project will provide jobs for the village, commitment to old crafts, preserve local history and, not least, increase tourism. First day of work and the new project manager is in talks with his colleague Eivind Falk at the Norwegian Institute of Crafts and Crafts about the stave church. Photo: Mairi Macdonald / news Largest research project Head of department at the craft institute Eivind Falk believes this could be one of the largest research projects we have seen within traditional crafts and building conservation. – This will be a huge project. It will be the first time in 1000 years that a stave church has been built in this way. By building it as procedurally authentic as we can, we will be able to gain new knowledge about tools, materials and not least about our stake churches that we have not had before. – It is incredibly important that a new generation gets the chance to take part in and develop this knowledge, so that we can take care of our cultural heritage in the future. Eivind Falk from the Handicrafts Institute is confident that the financing will go well. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news Ax from the 13th century – This is an ax that is quite similar to one found here in the area from the 13th century. That’s what Anders Dalseg says, who works at the Setesdal Building Conservation Centre, and will be central to the construction of the new stave church. Inside the workshop lies timber that is over 800 years old. He is happy to pass on further knowledge to younger craftsmen. – It is the biggest project ever done on traditional crafts. It will be incredibly big, and the best thing you can be a part of in the traditional profession, says Dalseg. – I don’t think we have ever been as close to a stave church as now, says Dalseg. This is the copy of the ax from the 13th century that was found in Setesdal, and which may be used when the stave church is to be built. Anders Dalseg shows how the ax from the Viking Age works. In the background lies timber found locally from the 13th century. Sandra Birkenes says that Dalseg will be central to the project of building a new stave church in Rysstad. Financing not a problem Of the 112 million that have been calculated for the project, the Norwegian Institute of Crafts, the Setesdal Stavkyrkje Foundation and Agder County Council will have to cover a large part of the financing. Although this could be an expensive project, optimism in the village has never been greater. Dreng Brokke: – I think it’s a stylish project, right next to where the original was. Hope they get the financing in order. – But 112 million is starting to get expensive, so you have to consider whether it’s worth it. The question is whether it comes at the expense of other things up here. Helga Straume Hjelmaas: – I think this is positive. It draws people and tourists to the village. – You don’t think it’s too much money to spend? – No, they must have something to spend the money on. I think it makes sense. The mayor of Valle is also particularly positive about the project and does not believe that the construction of the stave church will go beyond other offers in the municipality. – Operating funds will eventually come, but this stave church will attract visitors and tourists both during the construction project period and after. So I think this will almost be self-financed, and a great attraction for the municipality, says Steinar Kyrvestad (Ap). The mayor of Valle believes this will not be a competitor to other services in the municipality. Photo: Mairi Macdonald / news Back in Sandra Birkenes’ office. Her optimism brightens the otherwise empty office. – It is no longer a matter of certainty – but when the stave church is built, says the committed project manager. – What if the financing does not go well? – In my world, and now I have officially worked on this for a little over a week, these thoughts still do not strike me. We don’t quite know how this road will turn out, but it will be a stave church here, she says confidently. First official day of work and an enthusiastic Sandra Birkenes gets the Valle mayor on the team. Photo: Mairi Macdonald / news
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The start is now underway to build a stave church for 112 million in Setesdal – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
