Långaryds kyrka

The earliest church here was likely a wooden stave church, though some evidence suggests a stone church stood on the site during the 1200s. The earliest recorded date connected with the church's history is 1303. The medieval building suffered twice during Danish raids in the 1500s and 1600s, being burned in 1563 and again in 1644; after the first fire, the church was reinforced with vaulting supported on thick stone pillars. A westward extension was added in the 1750s, but by the late eighteenth century the old church was judged to be in poor condition, prompting the decision to build anew.

Construction of the current church took place between 1806 and 1810, with the old building left standing inside the new walls until it could be demolished and the interior fitted out. The church was consecrated in 1816 by Bishop Ludvig Mörner, to a design by Per Wilhelm Palmroth of the Överintendentsämbetet (Royal Board of Works). It has a rectangular nave, a narrower apse-shaped sacristy screened off in the east, and a west tower, with entrances to the west, centrally on the south side, and to the sacristy in the east. The exterior is a clear example of neoclassical design, rendered in grey-white with smooth plastered detailing, while the interior blends furnishings from the first half of the 1700s with work from a 1930s renovation, especially around the chancel. The lantern atop the tower dates from 1847, replacing an earlier four-sided spire topped with a cross and globe.

A major renovation in 1932–1933 gave the interior a grey-green colour scheme, creating a fairly sombre overall impression, and added a painted decoration of the Ascension in the apse ceiling, the work of G. Ambe and T. Hjelm. Further changes followed in the mid-1960s, and the colour scheme visitors see today dates from a more recent renovation completed in 1994.

Several furnishings survive from the older church, including a font from 1702 and a pulpit carved in 1756 by the sculptor Sven Segervall. A rood screen bears the monograms of Kings Karl XIII and Karl XIV Johan above the sacristy doors. An altar triptych depicting the Crucifixion, by N. Enberg, was added in 1933, and numbered hymn boards date from 1846.

The church has had a succession of organs: an early instrument of five stops was built in 1699, followed by a larger organ in 1828 and another in 1934. The current organ, built in 1985, retains the outward case from 1828 while its mechanism was entirely rebuilt, and a small choir organ with a carillon was added in 1978.