Grava kyrka

The name Grava first appears in a document from 1359, when a priest named Olof is recorded there, suggesting the parish already had its own church in the early Middle Ages. Sources differ on the church's early fabric: one account suggests an earlier small wooden church stood slightly north of the present site, while records agree that by 1635 a small rectangular stone church occupied the current location, though it may date from as early as the start of the seventeenth century.

The building was extended repeatedly. In the 1630s the church was lengthened and the tower enlarged; accounts vary as to whether this tower addition took place around 1635 or 1645. A spire followed in 1661, and in 1684 a south transept was added, giving the church a three-armed plan. A north transept completed the cruciform layout, though sources disagree on the date—1753 according to one account, 1773 according to another. The drawings for this final extension are thought to have been prepared by Christian Haller, associated with the building of Karlstad Cathedral, though this attribution is described as probable rather than certain.

The tower's present appearance is generally dated to 1862, after which the exterior is said to have remained largely unchanged. Inside, the church has three galleries, in the north and south transepts and over the west end for the organ; a gallery for the gentry once stood above and behind the altar but no longer survives.

Among the furnishings, the pulpit dates from 1827 and the altarpiece from 1862, a gilded cross with a shroud cloth that replaced an earlier carved Baroque altarpiece from the late seventeenth century, now kept in Forshaga kyrka. The church was substantially restored in 1932 under architect Bror Almquist, when the interior was given a new colour scheme and new pews installed, and again at the end of the 1990s under architect Jerk Alton, when the side galleries received new staircases, the building was adapted for visitors with reduced mobility, and the pews were recoloured.

Grava kyrka is noted locally as a favoured setting for baptisms and weddings, drawing people from beyond the parish, and it retains a mixture of older and more recent fittings.