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TITLE
Whaling Station at Bunabhainneadar
EXTERNAL ID
PC_MACLEAN_HARRIS&LEWIS09_03
PLACENAME
Bunabhainneadar
DISTRICT
Harris
OLD COUNTY/PARISH
INVERNESS: Harris
DATE OF IMAGE
6 July 2009
PERIOD
2000s
CREATOR
Clare Maclean
SOURCE
Clare Maclean
ASSET ID
29231
KEYWORDS
whaling
fishing
processing
hunting
Whaling Station at Bunabhainneadar

The tall brick chimney is all that remains of the Whaling Station at Bunabhainneadar on the island of Harris. It was established by a Norwegian company in 1904. Whales were mostly caught around Rockall, St Kilda and the Flannan Islands and then towed to the Whaling Station where they were processed for cattle meat and fertiliser.

In 1922 it was bought by Lord Leverhulme who planned to extract whale oil for use in Port Sunlight and meat for sausages to export to Africa. When this failed, he planned to smoke the whale meat and export it to the Congo. This was also a failure and work only continued for a short while after his death in 1925.

In the 1950s, Norwegian Captain Jespersen reopened the station. It employed 50 men and women and operated for two years before it closed for good.

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High Life Highland is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No. SC407011 and is a registered Scottish charity No. SC042593
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Whaling Station at Bunabhainneadar

INVERNESS: Harris

2000s

whaling; fishing; processing; hunting;

Clare Maclean

The tall brick chimney is all that remains of the Whaling Station at Bunabhainneadar on the island of Harris. It was established by a Norwegian company in 1904. Whales were mostly caught around Rockall, St Kilda and the Flannan Islands and then towed to the Whaling Station where they were processed for cattle meat and fertiliser. <br /> <br /> In 1922 it was bought by Lord Leverhulme who planned to extract whale oil for use in Port Sunlight and meat for sausages to export to Africa. When this failed, he planned to smoke the whale meat and export it to the Congo. This was also a failure and work only continued for a short while after his death in 1925.<br /> <br /> In the 1950s, Norwegian Captain Jespersen reopened the station. It employed 50 men and women and operated for two years before it closed for good.