The former municipality had a church and a chapel in it, both of which now form a parish within the present-day municipality of Hitra. The Fillan church is located in the village of Fillan and the Nordbotn chapel is located on the island of Fjellværsøya.
History
The municipality of Fillan was established on 1 January 1886 when it was separated from the municipality of Hitra to form a municipality of its own. The initial population of the new municipality was 2,241. On 1 July 1914, the southern district of Sandstad was separated from Fillan to form its own municipality, leaving 1,543 residents in Fillan and shrinking the municipality from 244 square kilometres (94 sq mi) to only 84 square kilometres (32 sq mi).[3] During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Fillan, Sandstad, Kvenvær, and Hitra were merged to re-form the old pre-1886 Hitra municipality. Prior to the merger, Fillan had 1,759 residents.[5]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fillan farm (Old Norse: Filli or Fillar) since the first Fillan Church was built there. The name is likely the original name for the local Fillfjorden, but the name's meaning is uncertain.[6]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Fillan was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
^ abHelland, Amund (1898). "Fillan herred". XVI Søndre Trondheims amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 124. Retrieved 3 July 2022.