The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1315, but that is not the year of construction. There is a lot of uncertainty about the origins of the church. Historical records vary with dates ranging from 1147 up to the 1300s. Dendrochronological dating showed rather uncertain results, but they date the church to between 1086 and 1196, but the samples were not complete, so the dates may not be accurate. There are also some runic inscriptions in the choir of the church that could be interpreted to say that the chancel was built in 1167 and it functioned as the church until the nave was built about 95 years later during the mid-13th century. Another theory is that there was an older church on the same site that was replaced in the 13th century and the new building reused some of the wood from the previous building. The prevailing theories generally say the church was likely built some time around the year 1200. When the church was first built it was known as the Hitterdal Church or Ryen Church in Hitterdal, using the old name for Heddal and the local farm, Ryen.[1][2]

The church fell into serious disrepair after the Reformation. The church had some renovations during the 17th century to fix the building as well as add a flat ceiling inside the church. In 1723, the church was sold during the Norwegian church sale when the King sold the churches in Norway to pay off debts from the Great Northern War. The church was then owned by a private owner who was responsible for the upkeep of the building.[2]

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke).[3][4] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.[3][5]

By the mid-1800s, the church was in seriously bad shape and a major renovation was planned. In 1848–1851, the church was rebuilt using designs by Johan Henrik Nebelong. This rebuilding was strongly criticized afterwards. This was one of the first major restorations of a medieval building and there was little experience with and understanding of the construction of stave churches among architects in general and from the newly started Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, which approved the plans. After the rebuilding, the interior appeared in a distinctly empire style, and there were sometimes major construction engineering problems due to moisture and fungal damage.[2]

Just over a century later in the 1950s, Nebelong's changes were undone and the church was restored to look more like it originally did. This restoration was led by Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas. The changes were quite drastic and they also included a lot of structural repairs including the replacement of many of the old staves. The nave's four corner staves and the half-plank walls are still original, but the foundations, sleepers, and stave beds were all replaced. Large parts of the nave are made of new materials (only two of the intermediate staves and some arch knees are original). Also, the roof structure got its current design during this restoration.[2]

The old stave church does not have a built in heating system, and large fluctuations in temperature are not good for the centuries-old timbers. Since the old stave church is still a functioning parish church, it had been used year-round. In 1993, the old barn on the grounds of the vicarage was rebuilt so that it could be used as the church during the winters. The barn "church" was named the Låvekirken and it houses the parish offices and has a large meeting space for the congregation in the winter. The old stave church is used when the weather is nice and the building is now only heated to a maximum of 8 °C (46 °F).[6]

Legend

There is a legend telling about the construction of the church and how it was built in three days. Five farmers (Raud Rygi, Stebbe Straand, Kjeik Sem, Grut Grene and Vrang Stivi) from Heddal had made plans for a church, and they decided to have it built.[1]

One day, Raud Rygi (one of the five men) met a stranger who was willing to build the church. However, the stranger, set three conditions for doing the job, one of which must be fulfilled before the church was finished. Raud had three options: fetch the sun and the moon from the sky, forfeit his life-blood, or guess the name of the stranger.

Raud thought the last would not prove too difficult, so he agreed to the terms, but time began to run out. All of the building materials had arrived during the first night, and remarkably, the spire was built during the second. It became clear to Raud that the church would be finished on the third day. Down at heart and fearing for his life, Raud took a walk around in the fields trying to figure out what the stranger's name could be. Still wandering about he had unconsciously arrived at Svintruberget (a rocky hill southeast of the church site) when he suddenly heard a strange but most beautiful and clearly audible female song:

English Norwegian Tomorrow Finn will bring us the Moon.
Where he goes, the sun and Christian blood perish.
He brings children to song and play.
But now my children, sleep safe and sound.
I morgen kommer Finn og bringer oss maanen
der han kommer forgaar sol og kristenblod
lokker barna til sang og spel
men nå mine små, sov stille og vel

Now Raud knew what to do, as the stranger was a mountain troll. As expected, the stranger visited Raud the next day, to present the church. Together they walk over to the church, and Raud walks up to one of the pillars, hugs it as if to straighten it, and says, "Hey Finn, this pillar isn't straight!" Finn snaps back, "I could be even more bent!" and then hastily leaves the church. Raud had solved the riddle after all. The stranger's name was Finn and he lived in the Svintru Mountain. Finn, also known as Finn Fairhair or Finn Fagerlokk, a troll, could not ever after stand the sound of church bells, so he moved along with his family to Himing (Lifjell).

According to the legend, the same troll was also responsible for building Nidaros Cathedral, Avaldsnes Church, and Lund Cathedral.[7]