On our way back from visiting the glass museum at Limmared we took a little detour into the countryside to have a look at the church at Södra Åsarp.
The main part of the church is said to be from the 12th century. The wooden porch was added in the first half of the 19th century, and the sacristy in 1928.
Unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) the church was not open, so we were not able to go inside.
We did go round the back for some more views, though.
The cypresses in the churchyard are quite impressive.
Wikipedia does not say how old the present bell tower is, only that the bell inside is from medeival times.
Linking this post to Ruby Tuesday Too
amazing old church, he steps are beautiful.. so old so beautiful... and i wondered what the red building is, so that is the bell tower. i have not seen one that was not on top of a church.. it is beautiful to... the whole property is...
ReplyDeleteI think that small countryside churches back in medeival times were often built without tower at first or with a separate wooden bell tower. Sometimes a tower was added to the original church later. Come to think of it there are modern churches with separate bell towers as well.
ReplyDeleteWow, those cypresses are reaching for the sky! beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely little church. The pictures are just postcard lovely.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful and comfy looking church.
ReplyDeleteThe bell tower next door was also quite impressive. I've never seen one like that before.
Thanks for this interesting post.
Honestly, this is just delightful! The main building does not look like a church at all, no steeple or cross on top. But the bell tower makes up for it, it is wonderful. And I am guessing it is never rung for fear of hurting it, it is so old. I love the cypress, and why do the gravestones look so modern? Are people still being buried here, and does that mean this church is still in use?
ReplyDeleteGinny I'm sure the church is still in use (and no doubt the bell rung as well when there is a church service), or the buildings would not be kept in such good repair. I assume the graveyard is still in use as well. Usually the oldest graves are found close to the church. But after a certain time if there are no relatives left to care for the grave (and if it's not of special historical interest), the spot can be re-used.
DeleteAs you know I love old churches and the part that they played in the communities and their history. I'm always sad when I can't see inside a church. That's the norm these days in the UK but, I'm glad to say, not so much in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole I'm finding more and more churches open in the UK nowadays. I think it's thr luck of the draw as to how much the vicar or churchwardens trust the public.
DeleteSome churches are kept open more than usual in the tourist season (mainly July). But this one is probably too far off any of the main roads to be considered a proper tourist attraction. It was mentioned on the glass museum's website under the heading "other things worth seeing in the area", though, and not too much of a detour for us on our way back (but we had to drive on narrow little dirt roads to get there).
DeleteSuch an unusual red structure by the church! It looks like a windmill without sails or even a lighthouse!
ReplyDeleteCompared to British churches that has to be the most different Swesdish one you have shown us.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pics!
ReplyDeleteLobster claws
This is a very beautiful church, in its simplicity ! I don't like these cathedrals full of golden decoration artwork and paintings. They were built while people were starving ! Call this Christianity !
ReplyDeleteWhat a very unusual bell tower! Never seen anything like it.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the most unusual churches I have seen are the round churches on Bornholm.
I have never been to Bornholm, Meike - you got me curious so I looked them up on the internet, and indeed those very big round towers don't look like any I've ever seen on churches here.
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