Weddell Settlement

Weddell Settlement is the only settlement on Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands, situated on the east coast of the island at the head of the sheltered Gull Harbour (formerly Great Harbour.[1][2]), part of Queen Charlotte Bay.[3] It is located at 51°53′46″S 60°54′27″W, which is 12.15 kilometres (7.55 mi) northeast of Race Point, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south by west of Swan Point, 212 kilometres (132 mi) west-southwest of Stanley and 56.6 kilometres (35.2 mi) west of Fox Bay on West Falkland.

Location of Weddell Settlement in the Falkland Islands
Satellite image of Weddell Island

The settlement provides the logistic base for Weddell Island’s sheep farming and tourist industries. Sea transportation is serviced by a 50-meter pier. The island’s airfield is situated 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) north of Weddell Settlement, and has two intersecting unpaved runways (470 metres (1,540 ft) and 400 metres (1,300 ft) long respectively) used by the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) Islander aircraft operating out of Stanley Airport. There are two unpaved earth roads on the island, both leaving Weddell Settlement. One of them, 13 km (8.1 mi) long, runs towards the airfield and further north to Loop Head Shanty and the headland ending up in Loop Head and Swan Point. The other one leads 15 km (9.3 mi) in westerly direction, skirting the head of Chatham Harbour and turning north at Kelp Creek House to reach Chatham House at the southwest corner of the bay.

The tourist and farming infrastructure at Weddell Settlement is currently being renovated; in particular, the Weddell Lodge is being extended to provide additional tourist and workers accommodation during the summer period.[4]

Maps
  • Old map of Weddell Island
  • Sheep farmer John Hamilton whose family owned the settlement and the island from 1923 to 1987
  • Sheep gathering on Weddell Island
  • The brothers Lewis (pictured) and Stephen Clifton own the island since 2015
  • Map of Weddell Island

Notes
  1. The Falkland Islands: Surveyed by Capt. Fitz Roy R.N. and the Officers of H.M. Ship Beagle, 1834. The Inner Bays from Port Harriet to the Eagle Passage are from the Surveys of Lt. Sulivan and W. Robinson R.N., 1838 & 1839. Scale ca. 1:404000 map. London: John Arrowsmith, 1841
  2. R.M. Martin, J. & F. Tallis. Falkland Islands and Patagonia. Scale 1:1200000 map. New York: J. & F. Tallis, 1851
  3. Weddell Settlement. Falkland Islands. GeoNames Geographical Database
  4. Extensions to the existing lodge accommodation. Planning and Building Committee, Falkland Islands Government. Stanley, 19 July 2017

References
  • B. Stonehouse (ed.). Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. 404 pp. ISBN 978-0-471-98665-2
  • C.H. Barnard. A Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Capt. Charles H. Barnard, in a Recent Voyage Round the World, Including an Account of His Residence for Two Years on An Uninhabited Island. New York: J.P. Callender, 1836
  • P.P. King and R. Fitzroy. The South America Pilot. Part II. From the Rio de la Plata to the Bay of Panama, including Magellan Strait, the Falkland, and Galapagos Islands. Fifth Edition. London: Printed for the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, 1860. pp. 116–118
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