Church Roofs in a Frontier Region: Historic Timber Structures in Western Sweden Reflect Changing Influences and Resources

Abstract

Western Sweden comprises the provinces Bohuslän, Halland and Västergötland. They belonged to three different kingdoms until the seventeenth century: the Norwegian, the Danish and the Swedish, and were parts of three separate dioceses, thus forming a dynamic frontier region. In 2016–2019, a survey of medieval roof structures was undertaken in churches of the Gothenburg diocese. The best preserved were examined in cooperation between conservation officers, craft researchers and dendrochronologists. The constructions reflect differing craft traditions, resources and social structures, showing Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and North German influences. The majority of the examined roofs are dendrochronologically dated to the Late Middle Ages, a period of regained power after the crisis of the fourteenth century. This was the time of the Nordic Union and increasing international trade. Urban carpentry might have inspired some large double-framed roof structures, which were a novelty in these areas at this time. The late sixteenth century saw the effects of the Reformation and new Swedish-Danish wars, with ravages on churches still traceable. The timbers and their provenances give an understanding of changes in the landscape and its resources. By the seventeenth century, the coast was barren after centuries of heavy exploitation, leading to the use of imported timber. This chapter is a presentation of the mentioned survey project and the results with bearing on provisioning of timber and transfer of techniques.