The church's best-known story concerns Catharina Bågenholm (1742–1814), an influential local woman who donated the land and paid for the church's construction. She and her husband Erik Persson had twelve children, seven of whose sons became known in local tradition as the "Håbol boys" - said to have been wealthy, strong-willed and fierce-tempered characters. A memorial stone to Catharina stands near the church.
Built in timber between 1790 and 1794, the church is one of four cross-shaped churches in Dalsland. Its design was drawn up by master builder Olof Håkansson from Ekshärad in Värmland, who died during construction; the work was completed under builder Erik Göthberg. The church retains much of its original layout, with a three-sided chancel and steep saddle roof typical of the period. A sacristy was added to the east in 1874, and a porch on the south side around 1900.
The interior colour scheme of light greens, along with much of the current furnishing, dates from a substantial renovation in 1950–51, when the walls were replastered and the chancel floor raised. Earlier changes included lime-washing of the interior walls in 1803 and the boarding of the exterior in 1829; the exterior was repainted white in 1887, having previously been red.
The altarpiece, an oil painting of Christ in Gethsemane, was painted in 1911 by the Norwegian artist Mauritz Drougge and donated to the church. The pulpit was made by the same joiner responsible for the pulpit at Nössemark church, built around the same time, though it was later given a new base when the chancel floor was raised.
Among the church's oldest possessions is a soapstone baptismal font dated to the first half of the 13th century, decorated with simple carved bands, which according to local tradition was carved nearby at Sannerud. In the churchyard, a stone marks the former Högkil burial plot, a reminder of the era when individual farmsteads maintained their own burial grounds.