Åsa is a village in Ringerike municipality in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Åsa is located at the upper end of

Steinsfjorden Steinsfjorden is a branch of the lake Tyrifjorden located in Buskerud, Norway. It has a length of about eight kilometers, stretching from the sound Kroksund at Sundvollen northwards to Åsa, in the municipalities of Ringerike and Hole ...

, the eastern branch of lake

Tyrifjorden Tyrifjorden (Lake Tyri) is a lake in Norway. It lies northwest of Oslo and is the nation's fifth largest lake with an area of 138.56 km2. It has a volume of 13 km3, is 295 meters deep at its deepest, and lies 63 meters above sea level ...

. The village stretches from Åsaporten, the first road tunnel towards Åsa from

Norderhov Norderhov is a former municipality located within Ringerike (municipality), Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Municipality Norderhov municipality was established on January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the ...

, and around the north end and east side of the fjord area, south to the border with

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

History

Åsa was named after two farms around the mouth of the Åsaelva River. In the 19th century, the colloquial name of the village was Finnefjerdingen. Åsa has one elementary school called Steinsfjorden skole, a

Montessori education The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

school with around 22 children, residing in the same buildings and premises as the previous elementary school Vegård skole, which was shut down in 2015. The conveyor in Asa (''Kjerraten i Åsa'') dates from 1807. It was a system to transport timber up a hillside. The conveyor consisted of 12 water wheels with a chain between. It had a vertical drop of 389 meters over a total length of 3900 meters. It took 3 hours to carry a timber through the conveyor, which had a capacity of approximately a log every sixth minute. The conveyor was originally filed by Norwegian businessman Peder Anker from Bogstad, who owned large areas of forest in the area. He needed a solution to transport timber from

in Åsa up to lake Damtjern and Storflåtan before floating it down to Sørkedalsvassdraget and into

Sørkedalen Sørkedalen is a valley located in the northwestern part of Oslo municipality, northwest of Oslo's western suburbs, in Norway. The valley stretches from the suburb of Røa to Skansebakken. The valley is frequently used as an entry point to Nor ...

. The system was designed by Swedish engineer Samuel Bagge (1774-1814) and was in use from 1809 until 1850.

Kjerratmuseet

Kjerratmuseet is the cultural and natural history museum for Åsa. The museum, which was opened in 2006, manages the former site of Kjerraten. There are models of the original plant, a reconstructed wheelhouse and examples of the original components of cast iron and steel in a museum with permanent exhibitions. Activities include guided tour along nature trails.

References

External links

Kjerratmuseet website
Villages in Buskerud {{Buskerud-geo-stub

History

Kjerratmuseet

References

Related reading

External links