Österlövsta church
Österlövsta church
According to information, there has been an older church, which has been described by the antiquarian J. H. Rhezelius in his travel notes from the 1630s. There he mentions that there are remains in the "pastor's yard" of a rectangular wooden church, about eighteen meters long and seven meters wide, as well as remains of a brick sacristy.
The church is built of brick on a plinth of gray stone and initially consisted of only a nave with a chancel. The sacristy and armory were probably built around 1468, when Andreas Erici, who belonged to the so-called Tierps school of painters, executed his beautiful chalk paintings. These paintings are now only preserved in the church armory and sacristy. The church's paintings were painted over for the first time as early as 1664 and in the choir the old paintings were replaced with new ones by Jacob Hartling and Johan Herman, but none of these paintings are left any longer. In 1664, windows were added to the west gable, and at the beginning of the 18th century, in connection with an extensive renovation, the church got its current large windows, and the external appearance was changed by the addition of stair gables.
On July 25, 1719, on Jacobi day, the church, belfry and rectory were destroyed by Russian troops who ravaged the Uppland coast. Walls and vaults were seriously damaged and all furnishings were destroyed. The church came to be a deserted church for quite a long time. But on August 14, 1726, the church could be rededicated, after de Geer had renovated the church with the help of his parishioners. As a thank you, de Geer granted the right of patronage over Österlövsta parish. In 1733, a magnificent tomb for Charles de Geer was erected on the eastern gable. Already earlier around the year 1723, a new belfry had been erected, with three bells, all of which were gifts from Charles de Geer.
A new parsonage was built in 1727 next to the church and is reminiscent of a Carolingian manor house. Today, the vicarage is privately owned. In the spring of 2017, the church was re-inaugurated after three years of closure when several major renovations had been carried out – the worn-out system with oil heating was removed, the foundation was drained, a new control system for heating and electricity was installed, roof work and façade protection were carried out and the organ was cleaned and tuned.