Hamre Church

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1329, but the first church here is thought to have been built in 1023 or 1024. There isn't much known about the original stave church, but it was the main church for all of Nordhordland, and therefore much more important than a typical parish church. At some point, the old stave church was torn down and replaced by the present church building. The present church at Hamre cannot be dated precisely. It was historically thought to have been built around 1622, but more recently an inscription on the old main door was found that suggests that it may have been built in 1585, in which case it is the first wooden church to be built near Bergen.[3] The wooden church was heavily renovated in 1649 and partially rebuilt in 1859.[4] Inside the church is a 1.4-metre (4 ft 7 in) high stone altar, which may indicate that the present church was built around the old stone altar from the historic stave church on the same site.[5]

Historically, the church at Hamre included all the subordinate churches in Mo, Alversund, Seim, Mæland, Aasene, and Hosanger. In 1749, Hosanger, Seim, and Mo were separated to form their own parish. In 1871, Aasene was separated to form its own parish. In 1885, Alversund and Mæland joined Aasene parish. This left just Hamre as the only church in what was once a vast geographic parish. In 1967, the Hosanger parish was dissolved and Hosanger Church was moved back to the Hamre parish. In 1975, both Hosanger and Hamre became part of the newly created Osterøy parish.[5]

• List of churches in Bjørgvin