Stave Church - Construction

Construction

Archaeological excavations have shown that stave churches, best represented today by the Borgund stave church, descend from palisade constructions and later churches with earth-bound posts.

Similar palisade constructions are known from buildings from the Viking era. Logs were split in two halves, rammed into the ground, and given a roof. This was a simple form of construction but very strong. If set in gravel, the wall could last for decades, even centuries. Remains of buildings of this type are found over much of Europe. An archaeological excavation in Lund uncovered the post holes of several such churches.

In later buildings the walls were supported by sills, leaving only the corner posts earth-bound – post churches. Such churches are easy to spot at archaeological sites as they leave very distinct holes where the posts were once placed. Sometimes the remains are even preserved, which makes possible very accurate dating of the church building. Under Urnes stave church remains have been found of two such churches, with Christian graves discovered below the oldest church.

A single church with a palisade construction has been discovered under another medieval church, the Hemse stave church. This church used a palisade wall, yet the walls were supported on sills.

The next phase resulted from the observation that earth-bound posts are susceptible to humidity, which will cause them to rot away over time. To prevent this the posts were placed on top of large stones, significantly increasing their lifespan. The stave church in Røldal is believed to be of this type.

In still later churches, the posts were set on a raised sill frame, resting on stone foundations. This is the stave church in its most mature form.

It is now common to group the churches into two categories: the first without free-standing posts, often referred to as Type A, and the other with a raised roof and with free-standing internal posts, usually termed Type B.

Those with the raised roof, Type B, are often further divided into two subgroups. The first of these, the Kaupanger group, have a whole arcade row of posts and intermediate posts along the sides and details that mimic stone capitals. These churches give an impression of a basilica.

The other subgroup is the Borgund group. These churches have cross braces joining upper and lower string beams and the posts, forming a very rigid interconnection, and resembling the triforium of stone basilicas. This makes it possible to omit the freestanding lower part of intermediate posts. In some churches in Valdres, only the four corner posts have been retained (see image of Lomen stave church).

Many stave churches had or still have outer galleries running around the whole perimeter, loosely connected to the plank walls. They probably served to protect the church from a harsh climate, and for processions.