Erikstads kyrka stands on a low rise, visible for miles across the open farmland of Dalsland. Built in 1881 in the neo-Gothic style with distinctive stepped gables, it is the third church known to have stood in the parish.
About 300 metres west of the present building lie the ruins of its predecessor, a granite church erected in 1686 and abandoned once the new church was completed. Its walls survive to nearly full height within a small walled churchyard containing old gravestones, wrought-iron crosses, and a slab dated 1658. That 17th-century church itself replaced a still earlier medieval timber church, mentioned in a 1583 inventory, though no trace of its structure was found when the ruin was investigated in 1928.
The present church was designed by the architect Johan Erik Söderlund and built largely through parish labour, with the foundation laid directly on blasted bedrock. It was consecrated in 1881. Built of grey stone, it has spectacularly stepped gables on the nave, chancel and tower, and a large round rose window with coloured glass at the east end of the chancel. Inside, slender wooden pillars divide the space into three aisles, with a pointed timber vault over the nave and flat wooden ceilings over the side aisles. The chancel fittings, including the panelled screen behind the high altar, were designed by Johan Fredrik Åbom.
The neo-Gothic altarpiece is a copy of Raphael's Transfiguration, whose original hangs in the Vatican; it was conserved in 1946. Åbom's pulpit, in matching neo-Gothic style, has a sounding-board with a carved dove suspended beneath it. A soapstone font dating from the second half of the 13th century survives from the medieval church and is considered the simplest of a small group of related fonts found in Dalsland.
A major restoration in 1946 shortened the interior by partitioning off two rooms at the rear, blocked two east-facing windows, and renewed the flooring and ceiling panelling. Further exterior renovations followed in 1963, 1988 and 1998–99, addressing the tower spire, roof slates and rendering. The west gallery holds an 1881 organ case rebuilt with a pneumatic mechanism in 1924; it is reported to be no longer playable, with a digital organ now used in its place, alongside a smaller mechanical chamber organ of 1912 in the chancel.
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Melleruds församling
Melleruds församling
Erikstads kyrka stands on a low rise, visible for miles across the open farmland of Dalsland. Built in 1881 in the neo-Gothic style with distinctive stepped gables, it is the third church known to have stood in the parish.
Box 94, 464 22, Mellerud
Explore this church: Erikstads kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
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Köla församlingshem, 67396, Åmotfors
View church details: Köla kyrkaSkogskyrkogårdens kapell is a church.
Badstugatan
View church details: Skogskyrkogårdens kapellSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
Provider catalogue data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser, CC BY 4.0. Separately credited descriptions retain their stated source and licence terms. Catalogue and visiting data reformatted from the provider. The English guide combines and abridges separately credited sources below.
Provider record updated: 24 Jan 2025. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: 86b96ea0-ac74-48e6-be17-74a72fe6b572
This English guide combines, abridges and translates the sources below with AI assistance, with editorial contributions by Churches in Sweden. It has not been independently verified. The adapted guide text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographs and map data have their own terms.