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Shetland Textile Museum

Museum

Shetland Textile Museum — Photo: PaulT (Gunther Tschuch), Wikimedia Commons · Report the wrong picture

Explorer Tom

Shetland Textile Museum fills an old fishing booth at Gremista with knitting, lace, rugs and tools, where fish were once packed for export. The Böd has held island work since about 1780; now it holds the work people made to wear and use. Step inside and see how much skill can hide in a single stitch. Arthur Nicolson built the Böd for his fishing station, with storage below and a home for his factor Robert Anderson's family. Boats landed whitefish nearby to be salted, dried and barrelled. The museum now cares for more than seven hundred textile objects, from Fair Isle patterns and fine lace to Taatit rugs, tweed and pieces by contemporary Shetland makers. One island craft has made room for another. The displays change with exhibitions, and volunteers may demonstrate knitting, spinning or weaving during the open season. Watch hands doing what labels only describe. The shop sells work by local makers, so the story carries on beyond the cases. This is a small community museum with a particular subject, and it takes that subject seriously enough to make even a tangled scarf seem ambitious. Find the museum at the Böd of Gremista, about 2.7 kilometres from Lerwick town centre and a kilometre from the Holmsgarth ferry terminal. There is on-site parking, but no public toilet; wheelchair access is limited to the ground floor of the historic building. It opens seasonally, generally Tuesday to Saturday, and its posted season dates need checking before a trip, particularly outside summer. Groups should arrange their visit. Come when the doors are open and leave with new respect for every stitch you used to take for granted.

This does not grant access. Check current paths, opening conditions and ownership before entering.

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More pictures of this place

Bod of Gremista — Bod of Gremista · Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph

Böd / Bod of Gremista — Böd / Bod of Gremista · Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph

Lerwick, Böd of Gremista, Textile Museum — Lerwick, Böd of Gremista, Textile Museum · Photo: PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lerwick, Böd of Gremista, Textile Museum — Lerwick, Böd of Gremista, Textile Museum · Photo: PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) · CC BY-SA 4.0

What is recorded here

Shetland Textile Museum occupies the Böd of Gremista, built around 1780 by landowner Arthur Nicolson as a whitefish station store and factor's home. It later housed several families, shops and storage, stood derelict after 1948, and was rescued from demolition before becoming a museum.

Why it was built

Arthur Nicolson built the böd about 1780 to store and prepare fish landed on the nearby beach and to house the fishing station's factor and family.

People and work

Workers salted and dried whitefish before packing it for export; Robert Anderson managed the station, and his son Arthur, later a shipping founder, was born here.

How it changed

As whitefish declined, the building became crowded housing, shop and store; empty after 1948, it was saved from demolition by a committee formed in 1967.

What survives

The tall harled stone böd, former salt store and domestic rooms survive beside the old curing beach, now holding more than 700 Shetland textile pieces.

Why it mattered

One building connects export fishing, working families, maritime business and the later effort to preserve Shetland knitting, weaving and lace skills.

Sources for this account

Sources checked 16 August 2026.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w164015443

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Photo credits

Richard Webb, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mike Pennington, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Graeme Smith, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Jeremy Duncan, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Maker not stated on source page, www.intrafish.com
Julian Paren, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Robbie, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

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