User:KaGr/Esse Parish Church (1)

Esse Parish church    is a lutheran Church in Esse in Finland. The church and the two old vicarage s are of national heritage Interest in Finland..

Previous chapel
There has been at least one earlier chapel in Esse. That building was erected in1731 as a rectangular house for preaching  and was in 1736 changed to a chapel. The preaching cottage had a broken ceiling with a slope of about 30 degrees. The chapel was equipped with a small belltower intended for one church bell. It was erected on the Ribacka Hill (Barn Hill) at the intersection of the highway and the Esse RIver and opposite an old sacrificial source.

According to an old tradition Esse was allowed to form a chapel of their own already during Charles XII of Sweden. The acceptance should have been given during his and his armys forced  stay in Bender in 1709 – 1713,after he lost the war against Russia. But that decision disappeared due to the Skirmish at Bender. Only when an area was able to build a church or chapel and maintain aclergyhous this area could obtain these rights. The granting of rights indicates that there must have been a previous chapel that has probably been destroyed maybe during the great Northern War.

The Church
Matts Lillhonga was hired from Kokkola (swe: Karleby) for the construction of a larger wooden chapel. Logs to the church were floated from Soini. Logs from the previous chapel were also reused. The church was built in the shape of a cross. Which is very common in this area when building churches of wood. The altar was placed in the midsectionbetween the vest southern cross-arms. The church was equipped with two entrances, one in the south and one in the west. When changing the outer panel of the Church 1996, it was found that the church originally had simple church porches at the entrances. The church got a roof rider in the form of a small octagonal tower in two ledges with scepter. The spire is today provided with crosses and Impellerss but originally had a Church Rooster

The church's windows are on the upside curved. The original window in the Sacristy was squarely provided with a grille as a burglary protection. According to accounts and inventories, windows in the Church have also been provided with lead Glass.

The church was inaugurated on  11 February 1771 by the Rural Dean Gabriel Aspegren. The church is named Magdalena Sofia after the Swedish Queen Sophia Magdalena and Princess Sophia Albertina.

Altar and Pulpit
The altar retains its original place in the inner corner between the eastern and Southern Cross-arms. The kneeling stnads för the communion and the altar table are older than the Altar painting and it's frame. The three-piece altarpiece was painted 1816 by master painter Gustaf Erik Hedman in Jakobstad. The top board shows two crying angels, the middle shows Christ on the cross and the bottom is a copy of Margareta Capsia s Altarpiece in Pedersore  Church,   that represents Jesus ' last Supper.

The whole altar set is a stylish mix of late Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassicism. There is no information on previous altarpieces in the church. Local artisans stood for planning and execution.

The pulpit was carved by the local "Carpenter from Bärklars" from Ytteresse. The sides have five shields with different motifs; Prayer, Baptism, Eucharist, the Bible and the Stones of the law with the Ten Commandments. Above the pulpit is a sound ceiling shaped like a crown crowned by a lamb carrying on a cross, Agnus Dei.

Colour, paintings and art
The church was originally painted in red like som many famrhouses in Sweden and Finland. The bell tower had a lighter color. The inside of the churchwalls were painted white in  1818 and was fitted with a black chest panel. According to the accounting books, curtains were also painted around the church windows.

The stained glass was made in 1940 by Lenart Segerstråle.

Renovations and Restorations
In 1954 the church was restored under the direction of architect Erik Kråkström. The characteristic features of a church by Lillhonga were restored. But the restoration  partly also destroyed some af the later additions to the interior,like the fasade of the organ.

In 2004, the church was renovated in a conservation spirit by architect Roger Wingren and conservator Torvald Lindkvist. During the renovation, the benches regained the original colour from the gustavianian style.

Organs
The church has had two organ harmonies before the first pneumatic organ was purchased. It was replaced 1970 with a mechanical organ built by Kangasala Organ Factory, and 2004 expanded and slightly rearranged by Åkerman & Lund Orgelbyggeri.

Belltower
The belltower was erected 1777 probably under Anders Hakolas management. Today it isequipped with  three bells. In addition, there are two previously cracked belss outside the church. The oldest bell is from 1731 and was in the bell tower connected to  the preaching cottage.

Pauper statue
The pauper statue outside the belltower is the second in order. He is gressed like a invalidiced war veteran from  the Finnish war. The statue was carved by Erkki Lahti from Evijärvi.

Memorials
The memorial of the fallen soldiers from Esse at the independence an civil war in 1918 has been planned by John Munsterhjelm.

There is also a memorial of all those that have been burried outside in the graveyard outside the Church. Here are also those that were members of the first free congregation (non-offical -lutheran congregation) of Finland burried.

Folklores
According to the local folklore, the church (or perhaps the chapel) was built on the Kyrkbacka (Church Hill) further up the river. But there was disagreement between the villages about the place. What people from teh village of Lappfors built during the day's should have been  torn down by those from Ytteresse-during the night. They would finally  have agreedon the sollution to float a log in the river and to build the church where that log stranded. The place would have been at the Ribacka Hill.

This kind of folklores ar told about alot och churches in the Northern countries. It's more likely that the change of location is due to both the land uplift that made the river less navigable and new route to the hinterland. In the oldest Church Records the village of Kållby counts to the area Esse. Maybe the change of location also was an attemtp to have them  accept to contribute to the new  church.