Segerstads kyrka stands beside the Östra landsvägen on Öland's east coast, separated from the former rectory by a small pine grove and close to the old village school and Segerstads lighthouse. It is one of the island's better-preserved church interiors.
A stone church was built in Segerstad parish in the 1100s, one of the smallest on the island. Early depictions show a rectangular nave with a sturdy tower at the east end, possibly raised over an earlier straight-ended chancel. The medieval vaulted ceiling was supported by a single central pillar, an unusual arrangement. The nave was lengthened westward in the mid-1700s, and a sacristy was added north of the chancel in 1764. At that time a freestanding bell tower stood in the churchyard.
By the early 1800s the medieval building was still considered too small. Rather than extending it further, the old church was demolished and a new one built on the same site in a late Classical, Empire style, this time with the tower at the west end. Construction began in 1839 and the church was consecrated in 1843. It is built of limestone, with a rectangular nave, west tower and an extended sacristy behind the straight east wall. An octagonal, copper-clad lantern above the tower roof houses the two bells; the smaller was cast in 1681 by Michel Bader, the larger in 1862 by I. P. Forsberg.
Inside, tall round-arched windows give the hall-church interior a bright, spacious character beneath a wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling. The church originally had a combined altar-and-pulpit arrangement. During renovation works in the mid-20th century the pulpit, built in 1765 by Claes Wahlberg, was moved to the north wall, and a new altarpiece took its place. That painting, completed in 1950 by Einar Forseth, is set within a surround of two grained columns beneath a triangular pediment and a radiant Trinity symbol.
Among the older furnishings is a font of Gotland limestone dated to the 1200s, and a font-altar with a crucifix, built in 1733 by P. Buschberg using columns from an earlier altar arrangement. The largely original box-pew seating retains numbered pew doors, and two ceremonial chairs from 1916 stand in the chancel. A votive ship, a model barque, was given to the church in 1977. The organ, built in 1952 by Olof Hammarberg of Gothenburg, stands behind a 19th-century case retained from an earlier instrument.
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Södra Ölands pastorat
Södra Ölands pastorat
Segerstads kyrka stands beside the Östra landsvägen on Öland's east coast, separated from the former rectory by a small pine grove and close to the old village school and Segerstads lighthouse. It is one of the island's better-preserved church interiors.
Kyrkgatan 3, 38692, Färjestaden
Explore this church: Segerstads kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
Hälleberga kyrka is a modern parish church near Gullaskruv in Kalmar county, rebuilt after a devastating fire and known for its striking chancel window and Orrefors glasswork. It also has links to a notable revivalist…
Hälleberga Gullaskruv
View church details: Hälleberga kyrkaLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
View church details: Virestad kyrkaLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
Kyrkebyvägen 2, 57250, Oskarshamn
View church details: Stensö kapellVillstads kyrka, in the village of Villstad in Gislaved Municipality, has served parishioners for many centuries. Though no exact founding date survives, the church is first mentioned in a written will dated 1268, marking a…
Villstads kyrkby
View church details: Villstads kyrkaSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
Provider catalogue data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser, CC BY 4.0. Separately credited descriptions retain their stated source and licence terms. Catalogue and visiting data reformatted from the provider. The English guide combines and abridges separately credited sources below.
Provider record updated: 1 Jul 2024. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: f58ba603-fee8-4b96-9759-53a04bd9dbea
This English guide combines, abridges and translates the sources below with AI assistance, with editorial contributions by Churches in Sweden. It has not been independently verified. The adapted guide text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographs and map data have their own terms.