Grytten Church

The Grytten Church was consecrated in 1732, the third church in Inner Romsdal parish. The first churches were erected about four kilometres further up towards Isterdalen. This area was given the name "Grytina". The parsonage and the nearby marketplace Devold are located here as well. The first church was a simple stave church, without any windows or tower. Some two hundred years later a new stave church was erected which also suffered environmental damage. n the Middle Ages Norway was a poor country under foreign rulers and had to endure consecutive years of poor yields, the plague and a harsh climate on top of that. When the third church was consecrated in 1732, it was built in a more updated form, as a so-called cross-church. However, due to excessive clearing of the woodlands nearby, the Rauma River began to erode the vegetation along its banks and carried a lot of sand downriver. The church was in danger of being buried completely. Eventually it was decided to move Grytten church to Veblungsnes, the new center in inner Romsdal. The originally small cross-church was turned into an octagonal church. The timber from the old church was used in the construction, along with new wood. This church was consecrated in 1829. Since then there have been a lot of improvements and additions.