Road Trip 2025 (11) - Old Church at Pelarne

Tuesday, 12 August - Part 3
Pelarne Church

Near the little village Sevedstorp (nowadays also known as 'Bullerbyn', cf previous post), we also made a short stop at Pelarne church, with separate belfry (bell tower); situated up on a little hill just by the road. The church wasn't open, but we walked around it.

Gate

 

This church is one of only a few old wooden churches left in Sweden that date back as far as to medeival times. The oldest part of this church is believed to be from the early 1200s; and if so may even be the oldest wooden church still in use. 

On June 30, 1905, Samuel August Ericsson (1875-1969) och Hanna Jonsson (1879-1961) were married in this church. Two years later, their daughter was born - who was to grow up to become the famous author Astrid Lindgren (cf. my previous three posts from this trip).  

On or near the big cross to the left in this photo was a sign saying that "This cross was raised in 1963 in memory of the around 7000 parishioners who have their final resting place here in the old churchyard, which served as cemetery until 1882." (A few old headstones, probably belonging to well-known and "important" people, can still be seen in the churchyard.) 

 

Below the hill, at the crossroads, the b&w sign (Kyrkogård) points towards the new cemetery (we did not go down there), while the blue one to the left points towards a walking trail.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Looking Back on Christmas Eve

 

In Sweden, for most people - and especially the children - it's Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day that is the "main" day of Christmas celebrations - not least because that is when Jultomten (Father Christmas) comes bearing gifts here (or, if we have outgrown believing in that, we just open those that we bought for each other...) 

In my childhood, Christmas usually involved visiting both sets of grandparents (living around 100 km away from us), and no church services were included in the schedule. Nowadays, spending Christmas on my own, I often try include at least one church service - and my favourite has come to be the one at 11 a.m. on Christmas Eve, in the church above (the oldest in town, from the 17th century). 

I can't say I have attended it every year - for one thing, it depends a great deal on the weather conditions if I feel up for the walk. This year, it was a grey day, but neither rainy nor icy, so no problem with that. The service is rather short one, centered on the Nativity of Jesus, in a way that also actively involves the attending children, who get to help with bringing the various figurines up to the nativity scene; between readings of the texts from the gospels, and traditional Christmas hymns sung. This year, the Bible texts were also actually read by two quite young children (who did it very well!). 

(I took my photos before the service began, which is why the stable is still empty.) 

 Christmas tree in the foyer.

One rather strange Christmas Eve tradition here in Sweden is a certain TV program, a Disney special (From All of Us to All of You), that has been broadcasted at 3 pm every Christmas Eve ever since 1960. (Parts of it have been exchanged over the decades, but most of it remains the same.) 1960 was the year that my parents bought their first house and we moved in there, and I think that's also probably the year when they bought their first TV (a bulgy b&w thing, and there was only one channel back in those days, so the only choice was to watch whatever was on, or not watch at all).  

 

My maternal grandparents had got their first TV a couple of years earlier (my m. grandpa was always quick to get whatever was new - he was also the first in our extended family to get a colour TV when those were introduced). My paternal grandparents did not have a TV, though - I think it wasn't until after my p. grandpa died (1969) that my parents bought one for my grandma. So depending on in which home we happened to be at 3 pm on Christmas Eve, I may possibly have missed the Disney special a few times. But if there was a TV, we watched it - even in later years when there were no longer any young children in the company. And even now I still find myself turning it on, even if these days, I'm likely to keep nodding off to it as much as I "watch"...

 

A bit later, around 4:30 pm, I turned my TV into a fireplace (it's a DVD), and spent about 1½ hour with my brother via a Skype video call. It's a tradition we created after our parents died and we stopped actually getting together IRL for Christmas. And after that, I also talked for a while with my aunt (on the phone, no video). Also a tradition. (While my mum was still living, it was the two of them who used to call each other.)

A more recent TV tradition (only since a few years) is that on Christmas Eve, we get to see/hear our Crown Princess Victoria reading the Nativity text from the gospel of Luke, from the church/chapel in the royal castle in Stockholm. (I don't think that's broadcasted live, but pre-recorded. But recorded anew each year, though.)

Later in the evening, this year, I ended up watching Downton Abbey - the Movie (from 2019), also broadcasted on our 'SVT1' channel. The movie is about the family at Downton expecting a visit from the king and queen. Many of you have probably seen it. I too have seen it before, but only remembered the main theme. And it soon became clear that I had indeed forgotten the details of the plot - so it kept me awake throughout... ;-) 

Church Concert for the Children of the World

Yesterday afternoon, I went with my friend E to a choir concert in the church in the village outside town where my parents used to live. Her daughter sings in the choir, based in another small town in the area. (We were also accompanied by E's daughter's ex-husband's mother. As there is no simple word for that kind of relationship, I gave up on trying to fit that into the first sentence... They're all still on friendly terms, though.) 

I did not take any photo of the church on the outside on this occasion, but below are two from previous visits:

Fristad church, August 2024

 

April 2023

In April 2023 we were there for a concert with the same choir in the same church.

The concert now was a charity concert for a national Swedish fundraising campaign for "the Children of the World" which has been taking place in October every year for around 25 years now. 

One of the songs that the choir sang this time was ABBA's Chiquitita (Spanish: 'little girl') - below in the original version, with lyrics.  

 

Small Town Charm

 (Tuesday 6 August)

The last full day that my brother was here, we made a somewhat shorter day trip. I had in memory an outing several years ago with my aunt and uncle + a friend of my aunt's. That time we visited an old cotton spinning mill that is nowadays a museum; and afterwards drove on to a small town not too far from there for lunch.

This time, with my brother, we started by driving to the small town (Kinna) for lunch at the same café (I had checked online that they were still in business); and visisted the museum on our way back.

We parked the car behind Kinna Church, and walked across the churchyard to the café, which (as I recalled) was across the street from the church tower.

 

(This church was not open for tourists either. I checked on the way back...)

Another charming old house ▲ close to the charming café ▼

The café, Skrädderiet (Tailor's Workshop), still looked very much like I remembered it. Inside, it's a bit like a 'tardis', with a number of rooms with individual decor - and in summer, they also make good use of their garden at the back. As did we, this time!

 

Checking my blog, I find that the last time I visited this place was 12 years ago, in June 2012. And memory served me right: The place really hasn't changed much since then. If you like, you can check out my old post here. 

(I'll save my new photos from the cotton mill museum for a separate post.)

 

Another Church with an Impressive Gate

 (Monday, 5 August, cont.)

On our way back from the coast we also made a short stop at another church, in Sätila - not all that far from the one at Hyssna (previous post), where we had stopped on the way down the same morning. The church at Sätila too has a similar portal leading into the churchyard as the old church at Hyssna (but somewhat bigger). 

Via a Swedish Wikipedia article I found my way to an English one on the same topic, giving me the English name for it: lychgate. The English article points out that "Lychgates served to differentiate consecrated and unconsecrated space" and adds that stone lychgates might also enhance the sensation of entering another space by actually changing how you perceived sound inside vs outside that gate. The English article also mentions the gate being important in funeral rituals; while the Swedish one stresses that in medeival times, the churchyard and church was sacred ground, where people could seek refuge/sanctuary. So these gates served more than just an ornamental purpose.

The church at Sätila is situated on a hill, overlooking a lake.

Outside that church, there are also two large stone tablets with inscriptions to do with the church's history. The first one is in memory of the church being extended in 1725. The second one in memory of renovations done in 1900-1901 (and naming a lot of people involved, from the king and the bishop and the vicar, to architects and painters...).

 

These records literally "written in stone" also reminded me of the stone with a much shorter message of similar kind that we found at the church at Vänga. So maybe raising memorials to major changes of church buildings was a common tradition in this part of Sweden as well (even if I can't recall having come across a whole lot of them, and especially not placed outside the church rather than within).

Hyssna Old Church

 

 

 

Every now and then on our car trips, we stop for a while at some old church - sometimes just because they tend to have free parking convenient for a stop when one wants to check the map... But it's often also a good place to get out and stretch one's legs a bit. 

Alas, none of the churches we happened to find on our outings this year were open to look into. So I just took photos from outside, and looked up some info afterwards.  

The oldest parts of the old church at Hyssna date back to the 12th century. It's appearance now goes back to renovations made in 1728. In 1907 a new church was built in another spot. This old one was abandoned and started to decay; but in 1922-23 it was restored to how it was before it was abandoned in 1910. Nowadays it's used mostly for special occasions like weddings and christenings. (Source: Swedish Wikipedia article.)

Red Granite Church

 

On our way back from Vänga Kvarn (mill), we also stopped at Vänga kyrka (church).

I got curious about a big old stone in the churchyard, much bigger than ordinary headstones, so I went up to that for a closer inspection. The inscription on it reads: "Here stood the old Vänga church. Torn down 1905."  (Swedish: Här stod Vänga gamla kyrka. Revs 1905.")

Their website confirms that the present church was built in 1905-06; and before that, there had been at least three older churches in the same place. The first wooden church was built as early as back in the 11th century, and is the oldest of its kind that has been dated in the province of Västergötland. That one was later replaced by another wooden church; which was in turn replaced by a stone church in the 17th century; which was then replaced by the present church, built of local red granite. 

I had been hoping the church would also be open to have a look inside, but it wasn't. However, the website also informs me that some items from the 17th c. church were transferred to the present one: the altarpiece, the pulpit and the font. On the website you can also have a look around the inside of the church. (The website is in Swedish but I hope the film works internationally as well. Please note that by clicking on the arrows you can also zoom in and out!)

A Church Concert

Yesterday evening I went with my friend E to a concert in a countryside church in the village outside town where my parents lived in their retirement years - and my paternal grandparents all their life. They + more relatives are also buried in the churchyard there. 

When we arrived, I first went for a stroll around the churchyard to check on 'my' graves, while E went into the church to make sure we got good seats. She also knew a few more people who were coming - including one of her own daughters singing in the choir.

No flowers had been planted yet on the graves tended by the church (a service we pay an annual fee for, and pansies will probably appear there any day now); but to my surprise I found this little angel keeping watch on my parents' grave. As it was not me or my brother who put it there, I'm intrigued who did... As I've never seen any of our other family graves adorned with such ornaments either, I suspect it's most likely that it really belongs to a neighbouring grave, adorned by several similar items. (Could have fallen over, and got picked up by churchyard staff not knowing where it belonged.) But as I don't know, I did nothing about it. (If it really does belong on the other grave I suppose they will recognise it and take it back.)

Fristad Church

It had been raining earlier in the day, but the rain stopped in the afternoon - I did not need the umbrella I had brought "just in case". After a very summery Saturday, I was back in my winter coat, though!

Photo of the interior taken while we were waiting for the concert to begin. We were there early as quite a large audience could be expected (and so it also turned out). A nice surprise for me was to also meet another old friend there (84 years old now) whom I hadn't seen in years. One of his sons was also in the choir. He sat down with us and he and I had a nice catching up chat before the concert started - while E was chatting with some other friends.

The concert was a musical Mass entitled Gloria, by Tore Aas. (Originally in Norwegian, and performed by the Oslo Gospel Choir. If you want to get an idea of what the music sounds like, you can find it on YouTube.)

Standing ovations at the end of the performance...
 

... and the choir repeating the last part... 

During the concert, the evening sun had come out of hiding and the sky was blue again.