The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1620, but it was likely built much earlier. The medieval church was probably a stave church and it was located about Шаблон:Convert east of the present site of the church. The old church was torn down in 1642, and over the next four years, a new church was constructed on the same site.[3]
In 1814, this church served as an election church (Шаблон:Lang-no).[4] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.[4][5]
In 1851, a new church was constructed about Шаблон:Convert to the west so that it would be much closer to the growing village of Skudeneshavn. The new church was consecrated on 1 October 1851. After the new church was completed, the old church was torn down and its materials were sold at auction.[6][7]
