Tankerness Fishing Station Bothy, Tankerness

single storey, 3-bay, rectangular-plan symmetrical bothy sited to W of main shed. Harl-pointed rubble. E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: doorway with 2-pane fanlight in bay to centre. Window in each bay flanking. W (REAR) ELEVATION: window in bay to centre. Window in bay to left. S (SIDE) ELEVATION: window set to right o centre; gablehead stack above. 12-pane timber sash and case windows to E; broken 2-pane timber sash and case windows elsewhere. Graded stone tiled roof; red clay ridge; harled, corniced gablehead stacks; thack stanes.

Herring curing in Tankerness started in 1833 at a time when herring fishing in Orkney in general was on the increase. A total of 724 herring boats were catching about 42 073 barrels a year. The operation in Tankerness was only just getting into its stride, although fishermen in the parish had been delivering their fish to other stations to be cured for some years before. The station at Tankerness represents a typical and relatively well-preserved group of herring industry-related buildings and accompanying pier. The precise function of each building is not known, but the complex would have provided space for coopers, and packers as well as the large numbers of women employed to clean and salt the fish. The main central building was perhaps used to hang the fish to dry although lack of visible ventilation in the roof suggests that this might not have been the case. The building to E was perhaps used to store the barrels into which the fish had been packed or as a net warehouse. (Historic Scotland)

12 September 2013: External inspection finds the building is overall in poor conditon, rooflights broken or corroded, windows with missing glazings/ louvres or boarded up. Walls and chimney stacks in need of repointing in parts. Full Planning Permission for reinstatement of the house was conditionally granted April 2013 ref: 12/772/PP.

4 March 2024: Desk-based assessment suggests building remains At-Risk.