Skip to main content

Essunga kyrka

Municipality
Essunga Kommun
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Skara

Essunga kyrka is the parish church of Essunga församling, standing in Essunga kyrkby just south of the village of Essunga, in Skara stift, Västra Götaland. The present building, completed in 1905, replaced two earlier churches on the same site.



A wooden church is known to have stood here from medieval times, remaining in use until 1760. It was replaced in 1761–1763 by a stone church with a rectangular chancel and a west tower, though this building required frequent repairs during the nineteenth century, including a rebuilt tower in 1830 after the original was found to be poorly constructed.

The church seen today was built between 1903 and 1905 to designs by the architect Frans Wahlström, in a Neo-Romanesque style. It has a nave with a narrower five-sided chancel to the east, an eight-sided sacristy attached to the north side of the chancel, and a west tower with a tall spire. The roofs are covered in slate, except for the tower roof, which is clad in copper, and the exterior retains cast-iron windows and doorways decorated with reliefs.

The interior was substantially remodelled in a 1936 restoration led by Axel Forssén, who replaced the earlier decorative scheme with a plainer, more classical style. A vaulted ceiling made of masonite was installed to conceal the open roof structure, and the fittings were simplified, though the seventeenth-century Baroque altarpiece was reinstated in the chancel.

Among the furnishings, the altarpiece dates from 1674 and is in a provincial Baroque style, with a painting of the Last Supper; a five-sided pulpit is thought to date from the same period. Fragments of the older church's painted ceiling, created in 1764 by Johan Wallin, are preserved in the tower.

The church's great bell was cast in 1463 and is decorated with bearded faces, rope-like mouldings and a founder's mark, along with a Latin inscription recording its casting date. Since 1915 it has been kept at the Swedish History Museum rather than in the church itself. The current organ, built in 1984 by Walter Thür Orgelbyggen, replaced an earlier instrument of 1905 that had itself been rebuilt in 1936.

Opening hours

Opening hours have not been confirmed for the current date. This does not mean the church is closed.

Check access with the parish before travelling. Services and seasonal changes can affect visits.

Contact & official information

Essunga församling

Essunga församling

Essunga kyrka

Essunga kyrka is the parish church of Essunga församling, standing in Essunga kyrkby just south of the village of Essunga, in Skara stift, Västra Götaland. The present building, completed in 1905, replaced two earlier churches on the same site.

Explore this church: Essunga kyrka

Church information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.

Other churches in the same diocese

Basic listing

Siene kyrka

Siene kyrka is a small, tower-less medieval church standing amid an ancient farming landscape south of Vårgårda in Västergötland. Its plain stone walls and modest scale belie a long history stretching back to the 1100s,…

Kungsgatan 43

View church details: Siene kyrka
Basic listing

Edsvära kyrka

Edsvära kyrka is a parish church standing on a ridge in the farmland around the village of Edsvära, in Vara Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It belongs to Varabygdens församling within the Diocese of Skara, and…

Sveagatan 7

View church details: Edsvära kyrka
Basic listing

Norra Kyrketorps kyrka

Norra Kyrketorps kyrka is a 20th-century parish church in the Skultorp district of Skövde, Västra Götaland, within Skara diocese. Consecrated in March 1925, it blends several historical building styles into a compact, light-filled village church.

Skövdevägen 21

View church details: Norra Kyrketorps kyrka
Basic listing

Ulricehamns kyrka

Ulricehamns kyrka stands close to the shores of Lake Åsunden in the centre of Ulricehamn, at the heart of Ulricehamns församling in the Diocese of Skara. Its plain stone walls conceal a long and layered…

Västra Kyrkogatan, 523 30, Ulricehamn

View church details: Ulricehamns kyrka

Sources & credits

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 Mar 2023. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 33f10ffa-a474-4bb3-9cbd-02f0f41cb6f9

Guide sources

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.

Suggest a correction

Church data retrieved 24 Sep 2026. Visiting details have not been independently verified.

Sources, licences & reuse

Independent guide

Churches in Sweden is an independent guide. It is not an official Svenska kyrkan website and does not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

Church information

Source: Svenska kyrkan — Platser, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. English adaptations by Churches in Sweden are identified on each profile. Our adaptations solely from Platser are offered under CC BY 4.0. Guides combining Wikipedia with other compatible sources are identified individually and offered under CC BY-SA 4.0; this covers that guide text, not the whole website. Separately credited third-party material retains its stated terms. Independently written descriptions are identified on their profiles. Imported material has not been independently verified. Original names and visiting details are retained; presentation is reformatted. Each profile identifies its source record and any additional supplied credits.

You may reuse the licensed church material under CC BY 4.0, including commercially, with the required attribution, licence link and indication of changes. No additional site restriction overrides those rights. The licence does not automatically cover separately credited images or map data.

Provider disclaimer

Svenska kyrkan supplies Platser data without guaranteeing that it is correct, current, complete across its organisation, or always available. The material is provided as-is and as-available, subject to the licence’s disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability.

Svenska kyrkan kan ej garantera att den data som finns i Platser:
– är korrekt.
– är aktuell.
– är komplett för hela Svenska kyrkans organisation.
– alltid är tillgänglig.

Preserved provider agreement · Full licence

Automatic diocese associations use the organisation codes from Svenska kyrkan UnitAPI. An association does not establish ownership or denomination. External editorial sources are credited separately.

Map and photographs

Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL and © OpenMapTiles. Tiles and style are served by World Class Maps. Map rendering uses MapLibre GL JS. The map’s own attribution remains visible.

Photographs are credited individually with their own licence or permission. The API data licence does not automatically cover photographs. No images are imported automatically.