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Annette Gran (6 years ago)
Vegard Gunnestad (7 years ago)
Syver Stensholt (8 years ago)
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1392, but the church was not necessarily built that year. The original part of the building was possibly built sometime around the year 1200, although the church presently uses 1392 as the year of its founding (celebrating its 600th anniversary in 1992). In 1992, dendrochronological dating was carried out to determine the age of the church, but it was inconclusive. The stone church was initially built with a rectangular nave and a smaller, rectangular chancel with a lower roofline. It was built in a Romanesque style, typically seen in churches built in the 12th and early 13th centuries in Norway. The building is constructed of stone, with the walls measuring about 120 centimetres (47 in) thick. Later, a wooden church porch was built at the main entrance. Extensive repairs were carried out in 1686 (a wall and a new tower on top of the nave, and second floor seating galleries in the nave). In 1932, a sacristy was built on the south side of the chancel. In 1951, the sacristy was taken down and rebuilt on the east end of the chancel.
The church was owned by the county of Jarlsberg from 1673 to 1766, when it was bought by some farmers in the village of Hem. In 1913, ownership of the church was transferred to the parish.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.