Assater facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Assater |
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 Loch of Assater |
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 Assater
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| OS grid reference | HU295795 |
| Civil parish |
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| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SHETLAND |
| Postcode district | ZE2 |
| Dialling code | 01806 |
| Police | Northern |
| Fire | Highlands and Islands |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament |
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| Scottish Parliament |
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Assater (also spelled Assetter) is a small village, or hamlet, located on Mainland. Mainland is the largest island in Shetland, Scotland. Assater is found in the area known as Northmaven. It is about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) northwest of Urafirth. It is also 1.2 miles (1.9 km) southeast of Heylor by road.
History of Assater
Robert Dunn's Visit
In 1831, a bird expert named Robert Dunn visited Shetland. He wanted to collect different types of birds for his collection. Later, in 1837, he wrote notes about his trip. These notes were meant to help others who wanted to visit the islands and collect natural history items.
Dunn spent a lot of time living in Assater. From there, he explored nearby places like Ronas Voe and Ronas Hill many times. He first arrived in Urafirth by boat. Then he walked to Assater with a helper he had hired.
When he arrived, he noticed the dogs, pigs, and children made a lot of noise. At that time, three families lived in Assater. Dunn wrote that they were all fishermen. However, they also worked on their small farms, called crofts, during the winter.
Dunn wrote about his first breakfast in Assater in detail. It included fresh fish, eggs, cold fowl, and coffee with cream. He did note that there wasn't a huge amount of food. Dunn seemed to have a good feeling about Assater. He even said it might become a popular place like Brighton someday.
Old Buildings
Maps from 1881 show that Assater had many buildings. There were fourteen buildings with roofs. Two of these were mills. There were also six buildings without roofs. By 1973, newer maps showed fewer buildings. Only nine buildings had roofs, and eight were unroofed.
You can also see some ancient remains near Assater. About 200 yards (180 m) south of the main village is a burnt mound. This is a pile of stones that were heated up. It is about 0.7 meters (2.3 ft) tall.
There is also something called a clearance cairn nearby. This is a pile of stones cleared from fields. It is about 15 meters (49 ft) long. Some people think this cairn might actually be the site of an old, ruined chapel.
Animals in Assater
In 1999, scientists found something interesting about frogs in Assater. Frogs are not originally from Shetland. However, Assater was one of only four places in North Mainland where frogs were found to be breeding. This means new frogs were being born there. The other places were near the Hillswick junction, near the Ollaberry School, and in Nisetter, Gluss.
