Kyrkjebuder
The Church Booths
These five “church booths” (“kyrkjebuder”) are all that remain of the 60 such buildings that once stood between the church and the boatsheds in Stranda. Such buildings have been around in many places all over Sunnmøre since the Middle Ages, for instance in Valldal.
These buildings were used as storehouses for goods. If one were to ship goods northwards to Trondheim in spring, one would transport them to these houses in the course of the winter, either by boat or on horseback. If one had bought goods in town, one would also store them there, and then carry them home bit by bit.
The “kyrkjebud” also came in handy whenever people went to church or to important meetings, because many would have to travel all day to get there. Thus, they would eat and change clothes in these houses and in between Sundays they would keep their best clothes and hymn books there.
The houses are all constructed in almost exactly the same manner, with one room and a stable at the far end. Some have an attic above the bigger room. The furniture comprised a table, benches, pegs to hang clothes on and chests for storing clothes in.
Primarily it was the farmers in the valley of “Strandadalen” who owned these houses, and they also had the right to let their horses graze by the farm “as far as the rope would stretch”. In the course of time, a small community with shops and a quay was formed around these houses. With the coming of the car, however, the “kyrkjebu” became superfluous, and had to give way to what is today the center of the small town of Stranda.
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