Editing Hemsedal (section)

===Early history===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2015}}
Hemsedal stave church (''Hemsedal stavkyrkje'') is believed to have been built between 1207 and 1224, and is first mentioned, as ''Ecclesia Aamsodal'', in the accounts and diaries of the Papal [[nuncio]]s sent to Scandinavia to collect [[tithe]]s in 1282&ndash;1324.<ref>P. A. Munch, ed., ''Pavelige Nuntiers [J. de Serone, B. de Ortolis, P. Gervasii] Regnskabs-og Dagböger, førte under Tiende-Opkrævningen i Norden 1282&ndash;1334'', Christiania: 1864, {{OCLC|562932132}}  {{in lang|da}}</ref> In 1327 it was also mentioned under the name ''Skodvinar Kirkja i Hemsudali''; this refers to alternate names of the farm where it stood, ''Kyrkjebøen'': ''Skodvin'' and ''Skadengård''. The church was dismantled in 1882.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stavkirke.info/stolpekirker/hemsedal/|title= Hemsedal stavkirke |publisher = Stavkirke.info  |author=Håkon Christie|access-date= 15 September 2016}}</ref>

Hemsedal Church (''Hemsedal kyrkje'') was built during 1882 as a replacement for Hemsedal stave church. It was constructed of wood on the basis of plans by architect [[Johannes Henrik Nissen]]. It has 500 seats. The organ was built in 1888 by Olsen & Jørgensens orgelfabrikk and was restored in 1976. The church is associated with the Hallingdal deanery of the [[Diocese of Tunsberg]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.norgeskirker.no/wiki/Hemsedal_kirke|title= Hemsedal kirke|publisher = Norges kirker|author= Sigrid Marie Christie, Håkon Christie|access-date= 15 September 2016}}</ref>
	
Hemsedal's economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. The valley had small and medium-sized farms that were widely scattered on the valley bottom on both sides of the river and along the slopes. Because of the high altitude, farming has concentrated for the most part on livestock and dairy, and use of summer [[shieling]]s has been important for the farms, which could not find sufficient pasturage in the valley bottom. Most therefore had milking stations on the shielings.

In the 1647 [[cadastre]] there was only one farm in Hemsedal large enough to pay full taxes; there were 24 liable for half taxation and 15&ndash;16 assessed as disused. In addition, there were a number of enterprises that were not assessed tax. The estimated population was about 400 (the exact number is unknown). Until the mid-19th century, the population increased steadily. In 1845 there were 1,775 people in the village. However, the population declined again over the next 75 years. In 1920 it had fallen to 1,358, before once more starting to increase.
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090208145110/http://ssb.no/english/municipalities/0618 Municipal fact sheet] from [[Statistics Norway]]</ref>