The chapel owes its existence to the obligations of church attendance that once applied across Sweden, combined with the long and often difficult journey to Björkö church on the mainland. For island communities such as Sandskär, having a local place of worship was a practical necessity rather than a luxury.
The exact date of the chapel's original construction is not known. It is recorded that in 1795 the building was moved from its earlier position closer to the shoreline to its present site, where it was reconsecrated. This suggests the chapel already existed for some time before that date, though details of its earliest history have not survived.
The building is constructed of horizontal log timber, with exterior walls clad in vertical board panelling painted red, a style typical of many rural Swedish churches and outbuildings. It is covered by a mansard roof, giving it a slightly more distinctive silhouette than the simplest timber chapels.
Sandskär lies some thirty kilometres south of Haparanda, within the scattered island chain of the Haparanda archipelago. The chapel's remote setting reflects the everyday realities of island life in this part of Norrbotten, where communities depended on sea routes and seasonal travel to reach church, market and other services.