Cunningsburgh, formerly also known as Coningsburgh ( non, Konungsborgr meaning "King's castle"), is a hamlet and ancient parish in the south of
Mainland,
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, Scotland. The hamlet is on the coast, nine miles south south west of
Lerwick
Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...
, about halfway between there and
Sumburgh Head
Sumburgh Head is a headland located at the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland in northern Scotland. The head consists of a 100 m high rocky spur and topped by the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. In the Old Norse language, Sumburgh Head was cal ...
. The parish was merged with
Dunrossness and
Sandwick in 1891. It is on the
A970
The A970 is a single-carriageway road that runs from south to north of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. The road also spurs to Scalloway and North Roe.
The road crosses the end of a runway at Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport is the main ai ...
road. There is a primary school, a marina, a community shop, a public hall, a history centre,
a touring park, and a
United Free Church of Scotland kirk.
Amongst the settlements in the parish are
Aithsetter, Ocraquoy, and Gord.
Cunningsburgh is included in the South Mainland
Up Helly Aa fire festival (SMUHA). SMUHA was the first Up Helly Aa event to have elected a female Guizer Jarl, Lesley Simpson, in 2015.
History
There is a prehistoric
steatite quarry site in
Catpund, Cunningsburgh.
A large
standstone block dated between the
10th and 11th centuries
The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium.
In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. T ...
CE was found in a burial ground in Cunningsburgh.
runic inscriptions on the stone suggest it was erected as a memorial.
The
runestone is now on display at the
National Museum of Scotland,
Edinburgh.
Outsider artist, poet and musician Adam Christie was born in Aith, Cunningsburgh in 1869 and became known for his stone sculptures of human heads.
At the age of 32 Christie was committed to Sunnyside Psychiatric Hospital,
Montrose, and never returned to Shetland. His work has been posthumously exhibited in Montrose and
Glasgow.
There is a memorial to Christie outside the Cunningsburgh History Group's headquarters.
The Cunningsburgh memorial was funded by History Scotland and made by one of Christie's living descendants.
On the 22nd November
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
a
de Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
DZ642 crashed in Royl Field.
The Cunningsburgh History Group dedicated a memorial plaque to the crew, which was erected in 2018.
Cunningsburgh Show
The Cunningsburgh Show is an annual agricultural show, held on the second Wednesday of August. First held in 1944 as a
livestock show,
it is now the largest event of its kind in Shetland, attracting around 4,000 people.
Livestock exhibited include cattle,
sheep, and poultry, and there are other competitions including baking, jam making, and equestrian events.
The 2014 show included over 2,800 individual entries across all categories.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 show was a
virtual-only event.
References
This article incorporates text from -
Wilson, Rev. John ''The Gazetteer of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone
External links
{{commons category, Cunningsburgh
Cunningsburgh History GroupCunningsburgh ShowCanmore - Glenlea site record
Villages in Mainland, Shetland
Parishes of Shetland