Hidinge Gamla kyrka

The parish of Hidinge is first recorded in written sources in 1314, taking its name from the village where its church was built. The oldest part of the building, the western section, is thought to date from the late 1100s, making this one of the oldest surviving churches in the Närke region. Remarkably, its exterior and interior remain much as they were at the end of the Middle Ages.

The church is one of the smallest in Närke, with a strongly medieval character: whitewashed walls (thinly rendered since 1958) and a steep wooden shingle roof. The freestanding bell tower is a more recent addition, rebuilt in the 1960s after an earlier timber tower of 1694 was demolished in 1872.

The roof of the nave was originally a wooden barrel vault, traces of which can still be seen from the church loft above the west gable. At some point during the Middle Ages, possibly the 14th century, the eastern third of the church was added and the current three vaults were built, along with a sacristy to the north. A wooden porch, since demolished, once stood on the south side. The windows were enlarged more than once, most recently in 1820.

The original appearance of the chancel remains uncertain; despite a careful archaeological excavation in 1936, its earlier form could not be established. The simple shield-like decorations in the vaults are believed to date from the 19th century.

By the mid-1800s the church had become too small for the growing congregation, and a new parish church was built nearby, completed in 1869. The old church was then left largely unused before being restored in 1922–1924 and again in 1937, when it was reconsecrated. Among its furnishings, the medieval font, an iron door to the sacristy and an oak door in the south wall all survive from the church's early centuries. A pipe organ installed in 1958 is no longer in use; a harmonium now serves in its place.