Algutsrums kyrka

The earliest church here may have been a simple stave church built around the 11th century, but the building recorded by antiquarian draughtsman Johannes Haquini Rhezelius in 1634 was a Romanesque limestone church of the typical Öland type, with nave, chancel and apse dating from the 12th century. A west tower and a sacristy were added towards the end of that century, and in the early 1200s a defensive upper storey was built into the tower, reflecting the island's exposed and often troubled history. Vaults were added over the tower's ground floor and the chancel around the same period.

By the 1700s overcrowding had become a problem, addressed by enlarging the galleries. This proved insufficient, and in 1822 most of the medieval church was demolished, apart from the tower, and replaced with a broad new limestone nave under a broken roof, lit by tall round-arched windows. The old tower remained in place until 1864, when the church was further extended westwards and the tower itself was rebuilt to designs by the architect Ludvig Hawerman, gaining its present tall profile with a lantern and helm-shaped cupola topped by a cross. The building work was carried out by local craftsmen including Peter Isberg and his son Johan.

The most striking survival from the medieval church is a German altar cabinet dated to 1475, showing the crowned-with-thorns Christ flanked by Saint Birgitta and the sainted King Knut, with further saints depicted on its side panels. Tradition holds that it came from the nearby St Knut's chapel, though this cannot be confirmed with certainty. The cabinet was later incorporated into a grander altar arrangement completed in 1881, which includes a crucifixion painting by Nils Johan Jonsson.

Other notable furnishings include a Romanesque font carved in sandstone in the Hegvald style, a small bell (primklocka) probably dating from the 14th century, and a crucifix associated with the late 13th century, though it carries a later inscription referring to a 1684 renovation. A rustic Rococo pulpit was made in 1775 by Jonas Berggren, originally serving as an altar-pulpit before being repositioned in 1837. A votive ship model of the three-masted frigate Valkyrian, given to the church in 1860, recalls the island's seafaring traditions, as does a portrait of a local sea captain, Peter Lillja, together with his officer's sabre.

The church's mechanical organ, built in 1961 behind an older case designed by Otto August Mankell, replaced an earlier instrument from 1884; enthusiasts of church organs may find the change of builders and specifications of interest.