The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1396, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Lårdal was a wooden stave church that was likely built during the 1200s. The old stave church was located at Eik, about to the southwest of the present church site. By the mid-1600s, the church had fallen into disrepair. In 1662 the roof was reported to be very poor condition. The reports of concern were repeated again in a report from 1668 after the necessary repairs had not been carried out. In 1684, that church was torn down and replaced with a new church on the same site. In 1723, the church was sold into private ownership during the Norwegian church sale when the King sold the churches to pay off debts from the Great Northern War.
