Name: | Cunningsburgh | CISP No: | CBURG |
Place: | Cunningsburgh | Grid Ref: | HU 4324 2791 (GB) |
Parish: | inc | Stones: | 4 |
County: | Shetland , Scotland | Saint(s): | none |
Site Type: | cemetery |
Forsyth/1996, 206--207: `...the churchyard of the ancient, long-disused, church of Cunningsburgh on the east coast of the southern mainland of Shetland. .. Konningsburg `King's burgh', was of great economic importance in the Viking period. Not only does it lie at the head of sheltered, south-facing bay, with a rich hinterland of good agricultural land, but nearby, to either side of the Catspund Bay, lay the largest deposits of economically exploitable steatite in Shetland. Archaeological remains indicate that the scale of production was so large that the soapstone must have been intended for export, either within Shetland (it is known to have been taken to Jarlshof) or further afield'.