Undiscovered Scotland

 

The Böd of Gremista lies at the north end of Lerwick's waterfront, just beyond the power station if you are travelling from the centre of town. The böd predates most of the buildings within sight of it, having been built in 1780 by the local landowner, Arthur Nicholson, to service the local fishing and fish curing industry.

The Böd of Gremista is home to the Shetland Textile Museum. At the time we took the photographs for this page, the Böd was home to a museum which celebrated the life of Arthur Anderson, the man who founded the Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Company: which has since become P&O. Anderson was born in the Böd of Gremista in 1792. Meanwhile, the textile museum was housed elsewhere on Shetland, and the photographs on this page show it in its previous location. Others show the previous use of the Böd. We will update this page and the images when we have revisited the Böd. In the meantime, you can find out more about the Shetland Textile Museum via the links on this page.

During the second half of the 1700s many landowners around Shetland built fishing stations on their land. These provided a point of focus for the fishing activity in the area. Often an artificial beach would be built. This was used to allow the boats to be pulled clear of the water, and was used to lay out salted fish to dry in the wind and sun.

Lodges would be built to house the six man crews of each sixareen. And at the heart of the fishing station would be the böd. This would be a larger building used to store the salt needed to process the fish; and the barrels of processed fish prior to their being shipped out. Some also served as the family home for the station manager. The Böd of Gremista served all these functions and was home to Robert Anderson, the manager of the Gremista fishing station.