pax.no Kristin (Ed.) Bakken Kristin Bakken (Ed.) PRESERVING THE STAVE CHURCHES PRESERVING THE STAVE CHURCHES THE STAVE PRESERVING Left: One of the two crucifixes from Ringebu stave church (Ringebu I) during What characterises the stave churches? How should we look CONTRIBUTORS conservation at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) with conservators Brit Heggenhaugen and Randi Gjertsen. The after them? In this book, the authors each bring their own CRAFTSMANSHIP AND RESEARCH crucifix is dated to the 1300s, but was painted over in the 1700s. Parts of Leif Anker the overpainting were removed during the conservation process. professional background and learning to the web of knowledge Photo: NIKU 2003. about stave churches in Norway. They explore the current Lars Danielsen Holen Right: Reinli stave church undergoing repairs in 2008. Carpenter Terje Tvenge status of such knowledge and explain the different preservation Sjur Mehlum from Slidre Bygg og Prosjektering AS cuts new beams for the roof on north ideologies. side of the gallery. The horizontal beam is made to fit the curvature of the Tone Olstad wall planks. Photo: Sjur Mehlum, The Norwegian Directorate of Cultural The stave churches are Norway’s unique contribution to world Heritage. Ragnar Pedersen architecture. In 2015, the Norwegian Directorate of Cultural Heritage’s Stave Church Preservation Programme was completed and all the churches Terje Planke had been repaired. However, the fact that there are 28 surviving stave Mille Stein og Iver Schonhowd churches in Norway is not enough. Increased expertise is needed to ensure that the preservation of the stave churches is sufficiently anchored in Terje Thun, Jan Michael Stornes, Thomas Seip knowledge and research. Bartholin and Helene Løvstrand Svarva In this book, information gathered from the conservation of church art and internal painted decoration in the churches is explained and discussed. EDITOR: Kristin Bakken New facts and methods within dendrochronological dating are presented. SUB-EDITOR: Leif Anker, Anne Nyhamar A discussion on the role of the craftsman is also included. The book also and Sjur Mehlum contains a thorough history of stave church research, and a scientific PICTURE EDITOR: Anders Amlo theoretical analysis that points the way ahead and suggests new research topics. Finally, there is a list of all the stave churches and the work that has been carried out on each of them This book provides a broad insight into the subject and at the same time indicates the need for further research into the history of the stave churches and their unique significance. The book is published in both Norwegian and English. FRONT PAGE PICTURE: Torpo stave church. The church may date from ISBN 978-82-75-74113-2 some time after 1163, but before 1200. The church’s interior is seen from the north-west. The free-standing posts, or staves, carry the raised centre part. The baldachin with Christ as the ruler of the world is probably part of an earlier gallery or lectorium. The baldachin was painted in around 1250. Photo: Jiri Havran. PRESERVING THE STAVE CHURCHES 1 Kristin Bakken (Ed.) PRESERVING THE STAVE CHURCHES Craftsmanship and Research Translated by Ingrid Greenhow and Glenn Ostling PAX FORLAG A/S, OSLO 2016 © The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage 2016 Cover: Akademisk Publisering Print: Print Best OÜ, Estonia Printed in Estonia ISBN 978-82-75-74113-2 Published in cooperation with Pax Forlag CONTENT Preface 11 JØRN HOLME Introduction 13 KRISTIN BAKKEN 1. What is a stave church? 17 LEIF ANKER 2. A Preservation Plan for the stave churches in Norway 23 SJUR MEHLUM 3. The colourful church interior 47 MILLE STEIN and IVER SCHONHOWD 4. «To the Glory of God and the Church’s Adornment» 69 TONE MARIE OLSTAD 5. Dendrochronology brings new life to the stave churches 91 TERJE THUN, JAN MICHAEL STORNES, THOMAS SEIP BARTHOLIN and HELENE LØVSTRAND SVARVA 6. The role of the craftsman in cultural heritage protection 117 TERJE PLANKE 7. Between a temple and a house of cards 135 LEIF ANKER 8. A complex field of knowledge167 RAGNAR PEDERSEN 9. Work undertaken in the Stave Church Preservation Programme 191 LARS DANIELSEN HOLEN Notes 207 Literature 227 About the authors 241 Index 243 PREFACE The Stave Church Preservation Programme was started By most criteria the Stave Church Preservation Pro- in 2002. The opening was launched at Nore stave church gramme has been highly successful. Its final cost was by Børge Brende, then Cabinet Minister, in September NOK 130 million, a sum which was spent in the course of that year. Assessments on the maintenance needs of of 14 years. The state funding represents an essential all the churches had been made in previous years and a investment in this part of our cultural heritage and it pilot project had been implemented. Thesepreparations currently represents the pinnacle of state efforts on be- showed that 20 of the churches were afflicted with half of the stave churches. Norway has the responsibility serious structural problems. Norway’s Directorate for for the proper upkeep of this unique part of our cultural Cultural Heritage was granted fresh funds to lift all of heritage, and accordingly we are shouldered with the the country’s 28 stave churches up to a normal level of task of maintaining knowledge and competence in this maintenance by the end of 2015. sphere. The Stave Church Preservation Programme Ellen Devold, Senior Advisor at the Directorate for lacked an earmarked research component. Nevertheless, Cultural Heritage, served as the first Project Manager once underway the programme led to signi ficant devel- for the Stave Church Preservation Programme. At the opment in our knowledge regarding stave churches. This turn of the year 2006-2007 she was replaced by Sjur is knowledge which should be documented and shared Mehlum, also a Senior Advisor at the Directorate, and for the benefit of public administration and academia. he led the programme to its completion. Harald Iben- We are aware that stave church research in Norway holt, Head of Section for Conservation, was responsible is on the verge of a generation shift. To stimulate and for its progress the entire period. The programme was ensure the field of research on which the administration implemented according to plan and the ceremony mark- of the stave churches relies, the Directorate for Cultural ing the completion of the Programme was attended by Heritage has decided to culminate the Stave Church Tine Sundtoft, then Cabinet Minister, in Ringebu stave Preservation Programme with this research publication. church in September 2015. We hope this book manages to disseminate knowledge Fortunately, the funding was sufficient to include gained during the programme period and stimulate church art in the preservation programme. Here too, future research in the area. assessments and pre-project works were initiated which revealed acute preservation challenges. Iver Schonhowd, JØRN HOLME, May 2016 Specialist Director at the Directorate for Cultural Her- Director General itage, supervised the conservation work throughout the The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage programme period. 11 INTRODUCTION On April 12th 1850, 500 speciedalers were granted by from abroad and for posterity, we now wish to present royal decree to support the restoration of Heddal stave the significant experiences and acquired learning that church. This marked the start of a long history in which the extensive work on the stave churches has produced the Norwegian State has taken financial responsibility as a by-product. for our stave churches. The grant in 1850 was given to I use the word by-product here intentionally, because Fortidsminneforeningen, the Society for the Preservation within the framework of the NOK 130 million spent in of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, the organisation the course of the programme period, we lacked finan- charged with supervising the restoration of Heddal stave cial leeway for a parallel, targeted research programme. church at that time. Our views on cultural heritage In retrospect this is to be regretted, as this enormous and their value have evolved considerably since 1850. programme of work has literally paved the way for fur- However, the status of the stave churches in historical ther research and investigations. Opportunities arose to and conservation circles, as well as amongst the public conduct archaeological excavations when church floors in general is formidable. Fortunately, the state’s motiva- were removed, while architectural history investigations tion for assuming financial responsibility for the stave could be made while scaffolding was up, roof shingles churches is still high. The Stave Church Preservation off or ridge turrets accessible. Within the programme’s Programme, which recently ended, palpably testifies to financial limits, we were able to exploit some of these this commitment. research opportunities. The same goes for the work on The Stave Church Preservation Programme has had church art and distemper paint decoration as well as visible and tangible results, and all 28 stave churches dendrochronological dating. However, these activities in Norway are now in a good state of repair. For the always played second fiddle to the programme’s preser- time being, they will generally only require an ordinary vation objectives. degree of maintenance. As the programme came to an It might therefore seem paradoxical that the end, it was also immediately clear that the tangible result Directorate for Cultural Heritage is now publishing a of the investment was not the only gain. The programme collection of research articles. The objective is to bring also represents an investment in the understanding we together this new knowledge, despite the programme’s have regarding these special buildings and has gener- lack of an explicit focus on research. As far as possible, ated new knowledge. One of the aims of this book we would like to comment and reflect on information is to thematise and disseminate this accumulation of accrued during the programme period and make the knowledge.