Stave churches are unique to Norway and it is believed that at their peak during the early 1100's, there were betweeen 800 and 1200 of these structures scattered throughout. Today, only about 25 to 29 of them still survive and are among the oldest surviving wooden structures in the world.

The most common type of stave church is a small, simple building with a nave and narrow chancel though some, such as the Borgund church, can be very large and ornate. It was their size which, in the end, doomed the stave churches. As the Christian community and the population in general grew in Norway. the churches could no longer accomodate the growing congregations.

Construction

Nothing of the first generation of Christian churches remain in Norway. These structures were, like the stave churches which followed, were built of wold and had walls of upright posts and planks with the poles embedded in holes in the ground. Though this gave the structures sufficient stability, it also caused their bases to rot. This problem was solved by introducing sills. The planks and staves rested on these sills which raised the walls above ground level and protected them from rot.

The churches got their name from their construction. A stave wall consists of vertical planks with their bases in a groove in the sill beam and their tops in a groove in the wall plate. Upright posts are then connected to the sill below at each corner and the walls were tarred.

If a man builds a church, whether he is a landlord or farmer or somebody else, he must always keep it in good shape and never abandon the site. But if the churche decays and the columns start to fall, he must bring new within twelve months, and if he fails in doing so, he will be fined three Mark fo rhis failure to the Bishop and still have to bring the timber and do the repairs anyways.

Gulating Law, Chapter 12

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