(Alternative titles: "Lost and Found" or "Tower Power")
On our recent trip to the coast, we did not get the opportunity to "properly" visit any church (as we have often done on other holiday trips). However, we did find church towers rather helpful for orientation in an unknown landscape (vs the map)!
On the second day of our trip, we found ourselves stopping at three different countryside churches because of feeling a bit lost, and needing to (re)establish our position on the map.
I have afterwards found that all three of them belong to the parish of Munkedal. If you click on the links to each of them below, you will also be able to have a look inside them on the
parish website - even though my brother and I did not get to do that IRL. (I did try the
door at each on them, but they were all locked.)
With the first one, the time stamp on my photo tells me that we stopped there around 10:11 - on our way to Bovallstrand. I've now (re-)identified it as Bärfendal church - dating back to the mid 1100s; but the wooden tower added as late as 1868.
 |
| 10:11 - Bärfendal Church |
 |
| An old wooden shed close to the church above |
 |
| 16:05 - passing Håby Church |
Håby church, near Munkedal: We had already driven
past this one (without stopping) at least three times - twice when looking for our
hotel on Wednesday evening, and again on Thursday morning...
And just after 4 pm on Thursday afternoon we passed it again. We did not intend to stop there, so I just took the opportunity to take photos from the car...
However, shortly after that we managed to miss a turn somewhere, had to have a full spin around a roundabout, and then found no place to safely turn around again until back at Håby church. Where we then parked for a few minutes to try and get our bearings straight - again.
This church too goes back to the 1100s, with the wooden tower added in 1869.
 |
| 16:14 - parked at Håby Church... |
 |
| 16:16 (a side door) |
 |
| 16:17 |
However, as there was more than one confusing roundabout to get through in this neighbourhood , we also ended up at a third church that we had not really intended to visit.
 |
| 16:34 - Foss Church |
Once we got past Uddevalla, we were finally back on more familiar roads. But still with another two hours or so to drive back to Borås... (phew)
We
only made two more short stops. The first one at a motel somewhere
after Uddevalla for coffee/tea. (Coffee for the driver, tea for
me.)
 |
| 17:00 |
The second at the church and graveyard in the village just outside Borås where our parents and paternal grandparents (and some other ancestors) are buried - just for a little walkabout to check on our family graves, this time!
From the one photo I took there (19:05), I conclude that we must have arrived home (at my flat) around 19:30 or so. Tired, with two long days behind us... but also quite a lot to look back on!
- Henry David Thoreau
8 comments:
These churches are all classic beauties, small, white, sturdy and with a tower. Amazing you can visit churches dating back to the 1100s, here in the US dating back 100 years is old. In those days they were built to last.
i thought the same as Terra. 150 years old is the oldest i have found here. all three are beautiful in there on way. sometimes it is a good thing to get lost, and this was one of them.. i know you were both exhuasted
Three beautiful churches. Before there was a tower, I wonder where the bell was mounted (if there was one).
The red wooden shed intrigues me; did you get to read the poster/sign on its wall?
I have been asking myself two questions about your mini break with your brother: Did your phone not come in helpful with navigation? O.K. and I sometimes use it when we are not exactly sure about how to get to a certain place.
And was your break deliberately only two days, or did you (or your brother) not have more time for a longer trip?
Terra, we have quite a few churches in Sweden dating back to the 1100s (although with most of them probably very little, if anything, remains of the original building). It was around that time (1000-1100) that Christianity began to spread and take over here (even if some missionaries had been here even earlier).
Sandra - see my reply to Terra above :)
Meike, I'm pretty sure the original small countryside churches did not have any bells; and the first ones were probably placed in separate wooden belltowers in the churchyard (such can still be seen at some churches).
My guess is that te red wooden shed is probably just used to keep tools and such (for maintenance of the churchyard). Not sure about the poster but it was probably announcements for church/parish events.
Short answers for your other two questions: Malfunction of a phone app was one reason why we ended up on the wrong road a few times on this trip... ;) And as for the trip being only two days, that was for a combination of reasons - including the weather, last minute plans, and "other things"...
How tranquil it looks in your photos. My first thought was that the red shed might have been a tiny church long ago - the wood looks so old as does the simple architectural style.
Carol, that shed is too small for a church. (But that may not be obvious from just a photo.)
Post a Comment