Post church

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Pallisade construction Stavkirke 1pallisade.png
Pallisade construction
Earthfast corner posts, the wall planks land on a sill. Stavkirke 2hjornegravd.png
Earthfast corner posts, the wall planks land on a sill.
Fully developed sill, as used on most stave churches. Stavkirke 3svill.png
Fully developed sill, as used on most stave churches.

Post church (Norwegian: stolpekirke) is a term for a church building which predates the stave churches and differ in that the corner posts do not reside on a sill but instead have posts dug into the earth. Posts are the vertical, roof-bearing timbers that were placed in the excavated post holes. Posts were often placed in trenches filled with stone, but were still susceptible to decay. [1]

Church (building) building constructed for Christian worship

A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used to refer to buildings of other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is often arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle and the junction of the cross is located at the altar area.

Stave church Medieval wooden church with post and beam construction prevalent in Norway

A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse. Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church, are often called 'stave churches'.

Sill plate bottom horizontal member of a wall or building to which vertical members are attached

A sill plate or sole plate in construction and architecture is the bottom horizontal member of a wall or building to which vertical members are attached. The word plate is typically omitted in America and carpenters speak simply of the "sill". Other names are ground plate, ground sill, groundsel, and midnight sill. Sill plates are usually composed of lumber but can be any material. The timber at the top of a wall is often called a top plate, pole plate, wall plate or simply "the plate".

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This type of construction is often believed to be an intermediate form between a palisade construction and a stave construction. Because the holes for the posts are easily detected in archaeological surveys they can be differentiated from the other two, even if none of the original post churches have survived.

Palisade defensive structure; typically a fence or wall made from wooden stakes

A palisade—sometimes called a stakewall or a paling—is typically a fence or wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks and used as a defensive structure or enclosure.

There is some debate over whether one stave church, the one at Røldal in Hardanger, Norway is in fact a post church. During restoration work it was noted that the posts seemed to touch the ground but as the church had sunken into ground it was difficult to verify if it was indeed a post church or a stave church. The only unquestionable indication of the origin of this church is the construction whereby the sill is tapped into the corner post, while in the more common stave church construction of this type the corner post stands on top of the sill.

Hardanger District in Hordaland, Norway

Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam, and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland.

Norway constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

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Borgund Stave Church wooden church (cultural heritage) in Lærdal, Norway

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Urnes Stave Church church building in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

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Hopperstad Stave Church Church in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

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Røldal Stave Church Church in Hordaland, Norway

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Ringebu Stave Church church building in Ringebu, Oppland, Norway

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Røldal Village in Western Norway, Norway

Røldal is a village in the municipality of Odda in Hordaland county, Norway. The village lies in the Røldal valley along the Storelva river on the north end of the lake Røldalsvatnet. Røldal is located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of the town of Odda. Røldal was formerly part of the independent municipality of Røldal from 1838 until 1964 when it became a part of Odda municipality. The 13th-century Røldal Stave Church is located here.

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Hemse stave church church building in Gotland Municipality, Sweden

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Post in ground type of construction in which vertical, roof-bearing timbers, called posts, are in direct contact with the ground. They may be placed into excavated post holes, driven into the ground, or on sills which are set on the ground without a foundation

Post in ground construction, also called earthfast or hole-set posts, is a type of construction in which vertical, roof-bearing timbers, called posts, are in direct contact with the ground. They may be placed into excavated post holes, driven into the ground, or on sills which are set on the ground without a foundation. Earthfast construction is common from the Neolithic period to the present and is used worldwide. Post-in-the-ground construction is sometimes called an "impermanent" form such as for houses which are expected to last a decade or two before a better quality structure can be built.

Heathen hof

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Aisleless church

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Uppåkra temple

Remains of an Iron Age building interpreted as the possible remains of a temple building, have been excavated in Uppåkra, south of Lund in Scania, Sweden during 2000–2004.

A post is a main vertical or leaning support in a structure similar to a column or pillar but the term post generally refers to a timber but may be metal or stone. A stud in wooden or metal building construction is similar but lighter duty than a post and a strut may be similar to a stud or act as a brace. In the U.K. a strut may be very similar to a post but not carry a beam. In wood construction posts normally land on a sill, but in rare types of buildings the post may continue through to the foundation called an interrupted sill or into the ground called earthfast, post in ground, or posthole construction. A post is also a fundamental element in a fence. The terms "jack" and "cripple" are used with shortened studs and rafters but not posts, except in the specialized vocabulary of shoring.

Churches in Norway church buildings (architecture and history) in Norway

Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes stave church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition there is a number gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.

American historic carpentry

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Røldal (municipality) Former Municipality in Western Norway, Norway

Røldal is a former municipality in the southeastern corner of Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 and it is located in the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Odda. The administrative centre was the village of Røldal, where the Røldal Stave Church was located. The municipality encompassed the Røldalen valley and some small side valleys, as well as a large area up on the vast Hardangervidda plateau. Historically, Røldal was an important trade and transportation route between Eastern and Western Norway.

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