Bankekinds kyrka

The parish, once known as Svinstad, was a prosperous farming area and only took the name Bankekind in the early 1900s. Its church has a striking history: the medieval stone building, erected around the turn of the thirteenth century, eventually proved too small for the growing congregation. In 1758 the old nave was demolished, though the sturdy medieval tower was judged too solid to remove and was left standing, later gaining an upper storey in 1776 that gave it its present form. Remarkably, the new church was built and ready for use within only a matter of months, and was consecrated in November 1759.

The tower is of particular interest to visitors curious about early building techniques. Some of its stonework displays opus spicatum, a herringbone-patterned Roman masonry method, exposed during restoration work in the twentieth century. A small chapel on the tower's first floor is thought to have been intended for the church's medieval patron.

Several furnishings survive from the earlier medieval church, including a heavily ornamented door with fine wrought-iron work, now used at the sacristy. Two elaborate silver candlesticks also remain, with a story attached: during a visitation in 1708, the Bishop of Linköping reportedly judged them too fine for what he called a poor country church and proposed exchanging them for a small bell to be sent to Linköping Cathedral instead. The exchange never took place, and the candlesticks have stayed in the church ever since.

Other notable items include a medieval font, a fifteenth-century vestment, and a seventeenth-century pulpit transferred from the old church, along with an altarpiece said to date from before the Reformation, depicting the twelve apostles. The church's organ has been rebuilt and altered several times over the centuries, with the current instrument dating from the mid-twentieth century, incorporating an older case front.