The stone church at Ænes is probably built in the second half of the 13th century. Whether there has been a stave church here earlier we do not know with certainty. The stone church has walls that are 1.5 m thick; it is a small one-nave church with a narrower chancel. The present, somewhat flatter roof, was put on during a reconstruction in 1869. The western spire in wood was also erected at the time. Earlier on there was a rectangular window at the south end. This was replaced by two round windows in a restoration in the 1950s. From the 1600s and up to 1901 Ænes and the church belonged to the Rosendal estate.
The sons of Gaut at Ænes, Jon and Munan, became king’s Lendmenn under Magnus Erlingsson. Both brothers lost their lives during the battles with Sverre. Jon’s sons were called Anbjørn and Gaute. Anbjørn was raised by the baglar bishop Nikolaus Arnesson, while Gaute settled at Mel, which some hundreds of years later became part of the Rosendal Barony. The historic sources are not completely equivocal. It has been pointed out that Ænes may be a misspelling of Urnes (in Sogn); in which case the history would be different.
