Belltower Vallsjö Gamla Kyrka - Vallsjö, Sävsjö Kommun, Jönköpings Län, Sweden - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

The old stone church "Vallsjö gamla kyrka" (Vallsjö old church) was built in the second half of the twelfth century in romanic style. As one of the so-called Njudung churches, it has no base. It was probably built by workers who had worked on the construction of Lund Cathedral, as the construction period and many similarities are almost the same - this can be seen particularly well on the tympanum above the southern chapel door. The church still has plastered stone facades and was originally built with a narrow west tower, chancel, apse and nave.

A wooden sacristy was also added to the northern part of the church in the 16th century, but it was destroyed by fire in the Swedish-Danish War of 1568. Unfortunately, the west tower did not survive the fire and was not rebuilt. Instead, an external bell tower was built. The pews and wooden pulpit, like the painted ceiling depicting the struggle between heaven and hell at the end of the world, were added in a contemporary style in the 18th century to hide the church's increasing decay. But the congregation grew and around 1850 the nearly 120 seats in the church were no longer sufficient. With numerous donations, a new church was built closer to the new city center, the bells were transferred from the tower to the new church and the old church was left to decay from 1891.

From 1910 the Church of Sweden and the congregation made efforts to preserve the old church. In 1929, a new wooden bell tower based on the design of the old bell tower was built on the site where the old bell tower once stood. Since 1951 the church is used again during the summer months.

The tower has room for two bells. Three strong central posts of about 6m surrounded by eight sloping support beams support the nearly square dwelling in which the bells are housed. Six small shutters on all four sides allow the sound of the bells to travel far. A small, pointed tower with a weather vane is attached to the roof of the dwelling. The tower, support beams, and dwelling were clad in wood to protect them from the elements.

References:
- sign at the church
- VALLSJÖ GAMLA KYRKA, Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish Nationional Heritage Board)
- Vallsjö gamla kyrka, Swedish Wikipedia

Address of Tower: Vallsjö Gamla Kyrka Vallsjö Gård 1 Sävsjö, Sweden 576 91 Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 1 Relevant website?: [Web Link] Rate tower: Tours or visits allowed in tower?: No

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