🏘️ Roughcaster in Cunningsburgh, Shetland

About Roughcasters

A roughcaster applies a textured external finish to buildings - the traditional Scottish harling that protects stone and blockwork walls from the weather while giving them a clean, uniform appearance.

Harling is one of Scotland's most common wall finishes and when it cracks, blows or starts to let in damp, getting it patched or replaced promptly prevents more expensive damage to the masonry underneath.

Ask whether they use traditional lime harling or modern cement render - on older stone buildings, lime-based finishes allow the walls to breathe and avoid the moisture problems that cement can cause.

About Cunningsburgh

Cunningsburgh is a scattered crofting community on the east coast of south Mainland Shetland, roughly six miles south of Lerwick on the main road to Sumburgh.

The area has a primary school, a community hall and a marina at Mail and is well positioned between Lerwick and the south end of the island.

The annual Cunningsburgh Show is one of the highlights of the Shetland agricultural calendar, drawing competitors and visitors from across the islands.

The coastline around Cunningsburgh includes sheltered bays and good fishing marks and the area has a strong sense of local identity within the broader south Mainland community.

About Shetland

Shetland is an archipelago of around 100 islands - 16 of them inhabited - lying roughly 110 miles north of the Scottish mainland and 210 miles west of Norway, making it the most northerly part of the United Kingdom.

Lerwick is the capital and only town of any size, a compact and characterful harbour settlement that serves as the administrative, commercial and cultural centre of the islands. Around 7,000 of Shetland’s 23,000 residents live in and around the town.

Shetland’s economy has been shaped by the sea for centuries: fishing remains a major industry and the arrival of North Sea oil at the Sullom Voe terminal in the 1970s brought prosperity that was carefully managed through a charitable trust that continues to fund services and infrastructure across the islands.

The landscape is treeless, wind-scoured and dramatic - sea cliffs, voes (narrow inlets), tombolo beaches and open moorland define the character of the islands and nowhere in Shetland is more than three miles from the sea.

Shetland has a distinct cultural identity that draws on both Scottish and Norse heritage - the annual Up Helly Aa fire festival, the Shetland dialect and the fiddle music tradition are central to island life and the sense of community across the islands is strong and self-reliant.