It was saved from destruction by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments (Fortidsminneforeningen), which bought the materials in order to re-erect the church elsewhere.

Most of the main construction remained intact and in original form, although practically all of the exterior dates from the 1884–1885 restoration.

[3][4] It was acquired by King Oscar II, who financed its relocation and restoration as the central building of his private open-air museum near Oslo.

Architect Waldemar Hansteen assessed the condition of the conserved parts and made a plan for restoration.

There is also a replica in the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, North Dakota and at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World in Florida.

In the end, the society bought the church's original parts for 200 kroner, on condition that it was removed when the new one was finished.

The society had no plot for the church, but early in 1881, King Oscar II's Collections - the world's first open-air museum - were established on Bygdøy royal estate.

In March 1884, the king saved the project by undertaking to bear the expenses for which the society lacked coverage.

Since he was busy with other assignments, the responsibility for the reconstruction on Bygdøy was taken over by architect Waldemar Hansteen with the royal estate's builder Torsten Torstensen as executor.

The meticulous descriptions in the Church Books' accounts from the 17th century onwards also gave a clear description of exterior details that gave good enough indications for reconstruction: the roof rider mentioned in the 17th century accounts sat in the middle of the ridge and wore two bells.

The bell room had a spontaneous saddle roof and carried an undefined structure that ended in a spire with a cross.

Good role models for details such as the wind skis were not found in Borgund, so they were made after the pattern of the wind skis in Hopperstad Stave Church, King Oscar's collections were transferred to the Norwegian Folk Museum in 1907.

When the church was moved and rebuilt, the architect only wanted to preserve and restore the parts from the Middle Ages.

The column shafts are covered with plant ornamentation, and the pattern incorporates crowned male heads.

The south portal was removed during the expansion in 1802-03, but parts of it were used in the new porch and could be used as points of reference for architect Hansteen's reconstruction.

Due to the desire to keep and recreate a medieval church, all post-Reformation furniture was removed, and the interior therefore lacks pews, pulpit and baptismal font.

Above the choir portal previously hung a crucifix that came from Veum Stave Church in Telemark, dated approx.

While the original stave church stood high and free up on the mountainside, the copy stands at the bottom of the valley, near the center of Gol.

A replica of Gol Stave Church is also in the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, North Dakota in the United States.

In the Norwegian Pavilion in Epcot, Orlando, Gol Stave Church is Norway's landmark.