Undirfell Church placed in care as parish merger nears

Undirfell Church in Vatnsdalur, northern Iceland, has been placed in the care of the landowners at Undirfell and will most likely be deconsecrated, mbl.is reports.

The Undirfell and Þingeyrar parishes are being merged, with only formalities and paperwork remaining. Religious services at Undirfell Church ended three years ago and will now be held entirely at Þingeyrar Monastery Church.

Kristján Þorbjörnsson, chairman of the parish committee, said the Undirfell parish has only about 40 to 50 members. The church is approximately 20 kilometres from Þingeyrar.

The landowners at Undirfell are not residents of the property but intend to maintain the church and use it as permitted by law. Weather forecaster Þóranna Pálsdóttir, the church’s designated custodian, recently received its keys.

“They are taking over the church, looking after it and using it as permitted by law. There are restrictions because it is so old, and preservation regulations apply to it,” Kristján said.

The concrete church was built in 1915 to designs by Rögnvaldur Ólafsson, Iceland’s first architect. It covers about 70 square metres and has a distinctive square tower on its northwestern corner. Its style is similar to churches in Húsavík, Hjarðarholt in the Dalir district and Breiðabólstaður in Fljótshlíð, all of which were also designed by Rögnvaldur.

The church faces west, as was customary for centuries, and stands alone on a low hill in the western part of the valley. Farm buildings once stood south and west of the church.