thumb|right|Leagarth House, Houbie

Fetlar is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a usually resident population of 61 at the time of the 2011 census and 66 in 2022. This may have been Pictish but there is no clear evidence for this. Haswell-Smith suggests a meaning of "prosperous land" and as "Pheodor Oy" in 1654.

History

One of the strange features of Fetlar is a huge wall that goes across the island known as the Funzie Girt or Finnigirt Dyke. It is thought to date from the Mesolithic period. So sharp was the division between the two halves of the island that the Norse talked of East and West Isle separately. The Fetlar sheepdog trials take place annually, normally in July. The Fetlar Foy, once very popular with Shetlanders and tourists alike, took place at midsummer on the Links at Tresta where folk were entertained with music, food and drink.

Famous son

Its most famous son was Sir William Watson Cheyne Bt FRS FRCS, a close associate of Lord Lister and one of the pioneers of antiseptics. He was professor of surgery at King's College London, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and wrote many books on medical treatments. He was made a baronet for services to medicine in 1908, and later was an MP—first for the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, and then for the Combined Scottish Universities—between 1917 and 1922. He was lord-lieutenant of the Shetland Islands from 1919 to 1930. Cheyne died on 19 April 1932.

Fetlar was home to the Society of Our Lady of the Isles, an Anglican religious order for women, until it moved to Unst in 2015.

Fishing and shipwrecks

The island has a long tradition of fishing. According to Guinness World Records, in August 2012 what was then the oldest message in a bottle, released in June 1914, was found by Andrew Leaper, skipper of the Copious, coincidentally the same fishing vessel involved in a previous record recovery in 2006. The bottle, and Mr Leaper's World Record certificate, have been donated to the Fetlar Interpretative Centre. Fetlar also has an international selection of shipwrecks including Danish, Dutch, German, English and Soviet vessels. They lasted until the 1980s before disappearing. However, a snowy owl was spotted on Fetlar in October 2018. Most of the island, with some adjacent islets, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.

Fetlar, and the seas around it, hold several overlapping conservation designations:

  • The North Fetlar Special Area of Conservation (SAC) covers of the island, and protects the islands dry heaths and base-rich fens .
  • The North Fetlar Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covers of the island as well as smaller surrounding islands, and protects the grasslands and heaths of these islands. These are important breeding locations for seals and seabirds.
  • The Fetlar Special Protection Area (SPA), covers of the island and surrounding seas due to the importance of this habitat for many species of seabirds.
  • The Fetlar to Haroldswick Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area protects of sea. It completely surrounds Fetlar, and extends to cover all sea between the islands and the neighbouring islands of Yell and Unst from the Colgrave Sound to Haroldswick.

Infrastructure

Ferries sail daily from Hamars Ness on Fetlar to Gutcher on Yell, and to Belmont on Unst. A new breakwater and berthing facility was added at Hamars Ness, and was officially opened on 1 December 2012.

There is a communications tower on Fetlar at: 60°36'5.39"N, 0°55'35.44"W. Fetlar is "Under Evaluation" for superfast broadband according to Digital Scotland.

Fetlar has a small airstrip with a gravel runway. There are no longer scheduled air services to the island.

Community development

Fetlar Developments Ltd (FDL), a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, was set up by the community to counter the depopulation of the island, which had fallen to just 48 in early 2009, when the 2001 total had been 86. The development company continue to work towards securing a sustainable future for the island both socially and economically.

Work to install three wind turbines in a Community wind energy project began in December 2015.

Demographics

In the 2022 census, 63.6% of Fetlar's residents were recorded as born in England, higher than any other area in Shetland. 77.2% of residents were recorded as aged 50 or above.

School

In 2009 there were 3 primary pupils and 1 nursery pupil at Fetlar primary school, situated at Baela near Houbie.

The school was reported as having been mothballed in 2022 after its last student left and no new students were expected to join in the following academic year.

See also

  • List of islands of Scotland

Notes

References

  • Gammeltoft, Peder (2010) "Shetland and Orkney Island-Names – A Dynamic Group". Northern Lights, Northern Words. Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.
  • Fetlar community website