Hannäs kyrkoruin

Hannäs kyrkoruin, a medieval church. The new Hannäs church was built in the 1880s, then this site was abandoned.

There was a wooden church in Hannäs as early as the 12th or 13th century. In the 15th century, the wooden church was replaced by a stone church built of gray stone, with brick around the windows and doors, as well as a beautiful brick ornament on the west gable. The ceiling was vaulted and decorated with paintings.

When the old stone church needed repairs at the end of the 18th century, it was proposed to build a new, larger church instead. It was not until 1865 that a decision was made to build the new church, and it was completed twenty years later. The last service in the old church was held on Judgment Sunday in 1885. It was then partly demolished.

The ruin consists of walls of gray stone just over a meter thick. Pictures from the 19th century show that the church consisted of a nave, chancel and vestry. On the south side there was a small wooden porch. The church had no tower and the church bells were hung in a bell tower in the churchyard.

When the ruin was restored (1950s), traces of the wooden church were found. An archaeological survey was also carried out and more than 100 coins were found, the oldest dating from the 13th century.

Today the church is owned by the Diocese of Linköping.

Text taken from Östergötland County Administrative Board