Breviks kyrka

Brevik is first mentioned in 1225 in a boundary judgment issued by King Eric, which settled a dispute between neighbouring estates. A church is thought to have been built on the site sometime between 1199 and 1349, and the present building retains a medieval core, though the chancel and sacristy were added later, in 1760. A carved stone fragment, known as a Liljesten and dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century, now stands outside the porch; it is thought to have once served as a step, and points to an even earlier Christian presence here.

The church itself is a rectangular nave with a three-sided chancel to the east and a sacristy to its north. The timber porch, now attached to the west end, was originally on the south side of the nave before being moved in 1914.

The freestanding bell tower southwest of the church is the most distinctive feature. For many years it was assumed to date from 1760, the year inscribed on an iron weathervane at its summit. However, dendrochronological analysis of its timber frame has since indicated construction in the 1330s, making it one of the oldest surviving bell towers in the country. Interestingly, local records show that in 1790 there was a proposal to demolish the old wooden tower and replace it with a new stone one, but the cost proved too great and the existing structure was repaired instead.

Inside, visitors can see a wooden font carved in the seventeenth century and an image of Christ above the altar dating from the fifteenth century. Outside the eastern churchyard gate stands a stone known as the Gråtstenen, or 'stone of weeping', traditionally associated with mourning for drowned sailors.

The church's organ was rebuilt in 1967, replacing an earlier nineteenth-century instrument whose original console survives in storage in the parish store.