Taxinge kyrka

The church's origins go back to a small wooden chapel built around 1650 on the initiative of the Bishop of Strängnäs, though its exact site is now unknown, and there are traditions of an even earlier, undocumented medieval predecessor. A cross-shaped church of granite with a brick chancel was completed on the present site in 1704 for Johan von Westphal, then owner of the Taxinge-Näsby estate; local tradition even suggests the building once served as a gunpowder store.

By the 19th century this church had fallen into disrepair, and in 1861 it was decided to rebuild, reusing the old outer walls. The new building, designed by architect Adolf W. Edelsvärd in a neo-Gothic style of brick and brick-coloured render, was consecrated in December 1863. Its window tracery and spire are of Gothic-style cast iron from Åkers styckebruk foundry. Below the free-standing bell tower lies the churchyard, burial place of Anders von Wahrendorff, ironworks owner and lord of the Näsby estate.

The tarred-shingle bell tower standing on a hill northwest of the church dates from 1869, replacing an earlier one first recorded in 1724. Of its two bells, the smaller carries Russian inscriptions and the date 1580, thought to be war booty, while the larger was cast by Lorentz Berg of Stockholm and donated by Johan von Westphal, bearing his coat of arms.

The church holds a notable collection of silver, including a gilded chalice of around 1400 with a Latin inscription, and a separate chalice and paten dated 1710 associated with von Westphal and his wife Brita Magdalena Fleetwood. Particularly striking is a silver christening bowl from the 1620s, engraved with the coats of arms and initials of the Gyllenstierna and Ribbing families and later generations, providing a richly documented record of genealogical history across more than a century.

Among the textiles, a chasuble of about 1400, now held in the Swedish History Museum, is believed to be North German, probably Lübeck, work. Other vestments and altar hangings, donated during the 18th century by members of the von Westphal and Fleetwood families, together with older 17th-century embroidered cloths, reflect the church's long association with the families of the Taxinge-Näsby estate. The current main organ was built in 1934 by Åkerman & Lund, incorporating a façade from an 1897 instrument, and a smaller mechanical choir organ was added in 1991.