Herøy Church is situated in the area of Sør-Herøy, near the sea, with the Seven Sisters Mountains in the background. During the Middle Ages, Herøy was the residence for the District Governor and there appears to have been a main farm on Sør-Herøy as early as the Viking times.

In the extended, whitewashed church that stands today, the eastern half of the nave, the choir and the apse date from the Early Middle Ages (twelfth century). The stone walls are clad both externally and internally with finely quarried ashlar of soapstone

the church is built in the Roman style with thick walls and round-arched window and door openings. The western half of the nave and the substantial tower were built in about 1880, also of stone.

During the Middle Ages, Herøy Church was the largest church in Helgeland, larger than Alstahaug and Dønnes, which are both still standing today. On Herøy and in Alstahaug the walls were clad with fine ashlar work, and it has been suggested that the same craftsmen may have worked in both places. Herøy was also, of all the churches in Helgeland, most richly furnished with stone carvings in several portals and in the choir wall, but much of this has been lost.

Twelfth century

Church, assembly house

Stonework, ashlar stone, soapstone

Ekroll, Eystein: Med kleber og kalk. Norsk steinbygging i mellomalderen, Oslo 1997

Liepe, Lena: Medieval stone churches of Northern Norway, Tromsø 2001