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St. Olaf Church in Tyrvää. Interior Restoration.
2003
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The late mediaeval stone church of Tyrvää in Vammala, in the province of Pirkanmaa, was destroyed by fire in 1997. The irreplaceable wooden interior, dating back mostly to the end of the 18th century, the old northern slope of the shingle roof and the southern slope, which had just been repaired, were all lost in the fire. The church is an important part of the national heritage landscape on Lake Rautavesi, and little time was lost in making the decision to restore the exterior to its state before the fire. Inside, it was decided to restore the interior landscape of the church.
Since the linking points of the lost timber structures within the stone shell - recesses in the walls, iron connector rods and columns below the floor - had survived, the new structures could be built in place of the old ones. The forms of the burnt down furnishings were not copied, as this would not have brought back the centuries old space.
Solid timber corresponding to the dimensions of the original structures was used for the new structures, and notching, wedging and dowelling were used to join the timbers. The expansion of seasoned timber was utilised as the church is unheated and its interior humidity corresponds closely to outdoor conditions. Structural details also serve as decorative elements of the building. The structures were mainly made of ten inch thick timber, but even heavier material was needed. The dimensions of the "king joist", which supports the western gallery, are 31 cm x 31 cm x 12.2 m, and the longest single timber piece used in the roof frame spans 15 metres.
No chemical treatment was applied to the interior wood surfaces. The floors were scrubbed with a mixture of pine soap and fine sand. At present the colour scheme is characterised by whitewashed stone walls and untreated spruce and pine, but paintings following the original iconography will be introduced. The artistic execution of these will determine the final character of the restored interior.
Fire safety has been ensured by a dry riser extinguishing system housed in the attic space, burglar and fire alarms backed by a recording camera surveillance system.
All of the interior fixtures were built with traditional tools by communal effort, and the significant input of a core group of five or so men. The quality of the craftsmanship originated directly from the hands of these magnificent builders, whose average age was over 70 years.
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