An Island and a Declaration
On a one hectare skerry called Forewick Holm in the Shetland Islands, Cunningsburgh resident Stuart Hill announced a new project in June 2008. He publicised on June 18 his plan to declare the islet a British Crown Dependency under the name Forvik.
He issued a Declaration of Dependency on June 21. The United Kingdom Ministry of Justice later stated that Forvik was part of the Shetland Islands and subject to United Kingdom law. Shetland Islands Council Convenor Sandy Cluness said officials would wait and see how matters developed.
From Dependency to Statehood
Hill coined the name Forvik, a pseudo Norse version of Forewick, a headland on nearby Papa Stour. He asserted that wick comes from vik meaning bay. Holm is a common term in Orkney and Shetland for a small rounded island. After his first step, Hill declared Forvik an independent state titled the Sovereign State of Forvik. He said Forvik recognised the UK Crown only through rights linked to King Christian I pawning Shetland in 1469.
He wrote to Queen Elizabeth II offering to serve as Steward of Forvik. He invited negotiations for oil exploration on July 18 and announced that Forvik would levy no UK taxes. He proposed a local tax named Skat and a currency called the Forvik Gulde that he said would be backed by gold. Posted figures later included an internal inconsistency that one Gulde had one hundred groats and one groat equalled about twelve pounds.
Rescues, Huts, and a Dispute
Hill spent time on the islet in a tent, then began a five metre by five metre hut. On the late evening of September 14, 2008 a lifeboat rescued him in the Sound of Papa after his small landing craft became swamped in a swell with winds gusting to Force 6 and 7.
The boat was recovered from Kirk Sands on Papa Stour, repaired, strengthened, and returned to service. In March 2009 Hill received a council tax bill for the hut and said he would not pay. That same month Mark King, identified as the prior owner of Forewick Holm, disputed Hill’s ownership. King said the island remained his until fully paid for. Hill said King had gifted the islet in April 2008 and that both had signed a document with two witnesses.
Road Tests and Official Replies
On April 29, 2009 Hill announced a vehicle on Shetland roads bearing Forvik plates that read FORVIK 1 and a nationality sticker marked FK. Notices on the vehicle rejected UK jurisdiction. During the night before May 3 unknown persons placed fishboxes under all four wheels. By May 7 the vehicle had been vandalised and was removed by a recovery truck with police present.
Hill posted that he would invoice costs based on his notices. He also reported that HM Revenue and Customs told him he did not need to file certain self assessment forms from 2006 to 2007. He stated that the official Forvik website launched on June 21, 2008, went offline between September 25 and September 27, then returned on September 29 in a remodelled form.
In June 2008 Stuart Hill stood on a one hectare rock in Shetland and declared it the Sovereign State of Forvik.
On Forewick Holm he announced a Crown Dependency named Forvik. The name and claim turned a tiny islet into a public dispute recorded in local and national reports.🧵 pic.twitter.com/sBjaxVnKWA
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) October 28, 2025