During Sweden's Age of Greatness, iron production was central to the national economy, and from the early 1600s the iron trade shaped the character of the Värmland bergslag. As the local population grew, Bjurtjärn became its own parish in 1630.
The first church, completed around 1643, was a relatively small timber building comprising the front part of today's nave together with the chancel and sacristy. A separate tower was added in 1658, and when the nave was extended westward in 1671 the tower became part of the church structure. Transepts were added to north and south in the early eighteenth century, giving the building its present cross shape.
The church is built of horizontal timber (knuttimrad) and clad in red-painted wooden shingles, with a copper roof added during the 1940s. Above the north and south doors the timber wall has been left exposed, and painted Bible verses surrounded by simple floral scrollwork can be seen directly on the wood.
The altarpiece dates from 1686 and is said to have been a gift from the ironworks owner at Alkvettern, Elias Lindroth. The present pulpit was made in 1725, replacing an earlier one from 1686; sources differ slightly on whether it was commissioned or donated by a member of the Linroth family. Both pieces are in the Baroque style.
South of the church stands an octagonal, white-rendered building with a domed roof, built in 1730 as a burial chapel for the Linroth family. It later served for a time as storage before being restored to use as a small chapel after the coffins were reinterred in the churchyard.
In August 2011 a section of the church's copper roofing and guttering was reported stolen, a reminder of the practical challenges involved in maintaining such historic buildings.