Vallstena kyrka

The building began as a small apsidal church of the early 1200s, of which the tower and nave survive. Later that century, plans were drawn up to enlarge the church considerably, including a new two-aisled nave. Only part of this scheme was carried out, in the eastern bay, which is why the church today has its distinctive two-nave form alongside a taller, straight-ended chancel with a sacristy to the north.

The different building phases remain clearly visible from outside: the older tower and nave have rounded Romanesque openings, while the higher eastern section shows pointed Gothic forms. A spire crowns the tower. Inside, the Romanesque nave is covered by four groin vaults resting on a central column, while the eastern parts have tall tent vaults. The triumphal arch, widened in the mid-1200s at the same time as the tower arch, is a striking feature of the interior, with stepped mouldings and unusually well-preserved decorative painting.

Among the church's furnishings is a font of mussel-basin type from the mid-1200s. A richly carved poor box, attributed to the workshop of the so-called Öjamästaren (Master of Öja) and dated to around 1300, bears carved scenes including the risen Christ and the three women at the tomb. The altarpiece with a processional crucifix dates from the 1300s, the pulpit from 1669, and the altarpiece painting from 1730.

The church is enclosed by a churchyard wall with three lychgates; the southern one, with carved details, is thought to date from the 1200s. To the north stands the old parish storehouse, later converted for use as a mortuary.

A restoration was carried out in 1957 to a design by the architect Bengt Romare, during which the foundations of the original apse were found beneath the church floor. The church has had two organs: a pneumatic instrument built in 1930 by Åkerman & Lund, and the current mechanical organ, built in 1973 and acquired from Tingstäde kyrka in 1995.