Site: Cunningsburgh

Name:Cunningsburgh CISP No:CBURG
Place:Cunningsburgh Grid Ref:HU 4324 2791 (GB)   Map
Parish:inc Stones:4
County:Shetland , Scotland Saint(s):none
Site Type:cemetery

Site Notes

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'.

References

Stones