The white, wooden church was built in a cruciform design in 1796 using plans drawn up by the architect Halvor Høgkasin.

Records show that a man named Kjetil Karlsson was acquitted of being responsible for the fire by Bishop Magnus in Hamar.

Kjetil is said to have lit a candle on the day the church burned, but witnesses could swear that he had extinguished it before he left.

Despite the fact that this fire was shortly after the ravages of the Black Death, a new church was built the following year.

The new building was also a stave church with an open-air corridor surrounding the nave and chancel.