Grindheim Church (Hordaland)

Historie

Grindheim Church is a parish church in Etne municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the eastern edge of the village of Etnesjøen. The church is part of the Etne parish in the Sunnhordland deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in 1728. It was restored in 1854 and 1954-55. The church seats about 250 people. There has been a church on this site for centuries, since some time before 1326. According to the entry on Visit Norway, this location includes the largest pre-Christian "burial site in Etne with more than 200 burial mounds. Today most of it is cultivated farmland and only some large mounds remain. To the far south is a large site with small mounds dating from the Bronze Age. The church's old interior is still intact and the church bells date from 1628 and 1751, respectively. By the north wall stands a 3.75m runic stone, which was found in the cemetery wall. It is a memorial stone from about 1050 with a carved cross and the runic inscription: 'Tormod erected this stone in honour of Tormod Svidade, his father'. The stone cross in front of the church dates from the period immediately after the Christianization of Norway."