Vada kyrka is a small medieval church standing in the churchyard village of Vadaby, in what was once Vada parish, Uppland. It probably began as an estate church for the nearby Vada farm, and its name may recall an old ford across the stream between the church and the neighbouring farm of Husa.
The church is thought to have been built at the end of the 1100s or the start of the 1200s, with walls of split and selected granite fieldstone, brick used around gables and openings, and roughcast, whitewashed exterior walls. Its original chancel was demolished towards the end of the 1200s and replaced with the straight-ended chancel seen today, when a sacristy was also added on the north side.
Fire has shaped the building more than once. Around the year 1400 the church burned and was rebuilt, reportedly reconsecrated in 1404 by Archbishop Henrik, and a porch was added in the 1400s. A further fire in 1697 led to the church being extended westwards. Its present appearance owes much to a substantial rebuilding of 1820–21, when the porch was removed, the medieval vaults were replaced with a plastered timber barrel vault, the roof was lowered and re-covered with tile in place of wooden shingle, and the round-arched windows and western entrance now visible were created.
Inside, the pulpit dates from the early 1600s, though it was not installed until 1668, having originally stood on the south wall before being moved to the north in 1772. A carved gravestone in the chancel shows the Stora Benhamra couple Jacob Trellow and Margareta Slots in high relief, dressed in formal period costume. The font dates from 1955, designed by Åke Tengelin. Notably, a medieval altar cabinet from 1515 and a triumphal crucifix from the early 1400s were both sold to the Swedish History Museum in 1897, so neither remains in the church today.
The organ, built in 1852 by the Uppsala organist and organ-builder Daniel Wallenström, has been enlarged twice, in 1955 and 1987, and now has six stops. A separate, free-standing bell tower stands northwest of the church, just outside the churchyard wall, built in the 1640s and clad in tarred black boarding beneath a pyramidal, shingled roof; automatic bell-ringing was installed in 1998.
The churchyard once had two timber lychgates, north and south, mentioned in records from the 1640s onward, though one was apparently demolished in 1762. The present western entrance, flanked by granite gateposts, is thought to date from the first half of the 1800s.
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Össeby församling
Össeby församling
Vada kyrka is a small medieval church standing in the churchyard village of Vadaby, in what was once Vada parish, Uppland. It probably began as an estate church for the nearby Vada farm, and its name may recall an old ford across the stream between the church and the neighbouring farm of Husa.
VADABY 8, 186 97, Brottby
Explore this church: Vada kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
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View church details: Trollbäckens kyrkaSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
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: 27 Sep 2023. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: 782a41ba-a3db-486a-af54-1aa3284a6307
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.