The church arches

3 church arches from Rognan in Saltdal , was set up in Bodøsjøen in 1970-1972.

The church huts were built on the shore of Rognan so that people in the upper village could stay overnight in them when visiting Rognan, when traveling and attending church. The people lived on the 2nd floor (bed huts where they slept) and the horse was kept downstairs on the 1st floor (stable) under a roof. Each family had their own church hut that they could use.

There was a fire in 1914 in Rognanfjæra, where over 200 church arches stood. Most of the arches burned down. The following year, new ones were built.

In 1949-50 many were going to demolish these old arches. Eivind Thorsvik who was a conservator at Nordland County Museum got wind of this and said that these arches had to be preserved. 6 of them were moved to Bodø ( Bodøsjøen ) and one was moved to Saltdal Folk Museum These church arches were relatively small, while the one that was moved to the village garden is a larger version of the many that stood in Rognanfjæra.

Source: Liv Krane