It is believed to have been erected by King Olav Kyrre in 1080 as a church for all of Vingulmark, the historic area surrounding Oslo.

The existence of these former mines must have been the inspiration for a number of local stories about the church having hidden silver treasures and even dungeons with dragons.

[7] [8][9] With the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War in April 1940, King Haakon VII and his family left for England on the British cruiser HMS Glasgow, not knowing when or even if they would return.

On 19 April 1940, the coffin of the king's late wife Queen Maud of Norway, who had died unexpectedly in London in 1938, was moved in secret to Old Aker Church, on the instructions of Eivind Josef Berggrav, Bishop of Oslo and Primate of the Church of Norway, and Hofmarschall Peter Broch.

Her body was left undiscovered in the crypt, covered in a hidden tomb, until 1949, when her remains were finally interred in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Castle.