Böd of Gremista

The Böd of Gremista

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 Story of Arthur Anderson Box Bed in Bedroom

The Böd of Gremista survives as a museum that celebrates twin themes. The first is the role of böds the length and breadth of Shetland. The second is the life of Arthur Anderson, the man who founded the Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Company: which has since become P&O (and whose company flag flies proudly outside the böd). Anderson was born in the Böd of Gremista in 1792.

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.

The Bedroom

The Kitchen

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. The böd is open to the public from the beginning of may until mid September, from Wednesday to Sunday, at times set out on the right.

The building is divided into a number of different areas. Half of the ground floor today is - as it would have been in the late 1700s - home to the salt store. The other half of the ground floor is the kitchen. Here you can see socks hanging up to dry near the fire, alongside the fish that are also hanging up to dry. On the upper two floors, space is given over to the story of böds, and of this böd in particular; to the life story of Arthur Anderson; and to a typical bedroom in the böd at the time of Anderson's birth.

The Salt Store