Fair Isle - History

History

Fair Isle has been occupied since the Bronze Age which is remarkable because of the lack of raw materials on the island, although it is surrounded by rich fishing waters. There are two known Iron Age sites - a promontory fort at Landberg and the foundations of a house underlying an early Christian settlement at Kirkigeo.

Most of the place-names date from after the ninth-century Norse settlement of the Northern Isles. By that time the croft lands had clearly been in use for many centuries.

On 20 August 1588 the flagship of the Spanish Armada, El Gran Grifón, was shipwrecked in the cove of Stroms Heelor, forcing its 300 sailors to spend six weeks living with the islanders. The wreck was discovered in 1970.

Fair Isle was bought by the National Trust for Scotland in 1954 from George Waterston, the founder of the bird observatory.

Today about 60 crofters work the land on the island. It has 14 scheduled monuments, ranging from the earliest signs of human activity to the remains of a World War II radar station. The two automated lighthouses are protected as listed buildings. The island's historic role as a signal station continues today with its high-technology relay stations carrying vital TV, radio, telephone and military communication links between Shetland, Orkney and the Scottish mainland.