Situated at the tip of the Furness peninsular, just twenty minutes from the Lake District, Barrow-in-Furness projects into the Irish Sea with Morecambe Bay to the south and the Duddon Estuary to the north.
Barrow is a bustling Victorian town with wide tree-lined streets and a wealth of fine vernacular buildings typified by the imposing Gothic style Town Hall.
The name 'Furness' is of considerable antiquity and possibly refers to 'Far-ness', namely distant headland. The earliest settler here was stone-age man. Archaeological evidence points to small groups of people occupying the adjoining Walney Island. Material display in the Furness Museum (currently closed) for example clearly dates back in excess of 6,000 years. Furness was once settled by a tribe known as Angles, who originated in Northern Germany.
By the 9th century, Furness was part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, with the King residing in Penrith, after which it was controlled by the Earls of Northumbria until the times of the Norman Conquest.
Amongst Barrow's many places of interest the first port of call for all visitors is undoubtedly Furness Abbey (or Abbey of St Mary of Furness) situated just outside the town - "in the valley of the deadly nightshade!' These days, it is a magnificent ruin of a vast and imposing building constructed in the distinctive red sandstone, and set in the deep wooded valley of Bekansgill.
The Abbey was foun ded in 1127 on land granted by King Stephen to the Abbot of Savigny in Normandy. The governing monastic order was originally Benedictine, an order dedicated to learning and prayer, but by order of the Abbot of Savigny, the Abbey became Cistercian in 1148.
Regretfully with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537, the lead roof was removed and melted down, and the walls partly demolished. The building is, to everybody's eyes, still very impressive, being some 275' long. The whole cluster of buildings show a mixture of styles from several periods as the Abbey would have been built, extended and re-built many times throughout its long active life. Furness Abbey has survived through many troubled and turbulent times, and it is not without good cause that it is now known as the most haunted place in Furness.
The transepts,choir and western tower of the church stand almost to their original height but much of the nave has vanished. As originally designed the transepts were of two bays with apsidal eastern chapels, but they were later enlarged and given chapels with square ends. Much of the church dates from the second half of the twelth century, but the eastern end was rebuilt in the late fifteenth century and the western tower was built about 1500.
The east range contains a thirteenth-century chapter house, parlour and vaulted undercroft over which ran the dormitory, now destroyed. To the east is the reredorter or latrine block built over a stream.
Little remains of the south range but further south is a fourteenth century infirmary with a chapel at the east end. East of this are foundations of an octagonal kitchen and beyond the stream is an earlier infirmary converted into the abbot's house.
The west range which had the kitchen and refectory of the lay brothers at the south end and a dormitory above, was probably one of the first buildings erected by the Cistercians.South-west of it was the lay brothers reredorter.
Barrow in Furness has long been synonymous with the building of ships. In fact Gladstone opened Barrow's first dock in 1867. The first ship to be built here was the steam ship 'Aries' originally constructed for Sir James Ramsden in 1870 by the Barrow Iron Shipbuilding Company. By 1882, 13 merchant ships were launched including an early submarine in 1886. By 1896 the shipbuilding yard was taken over by Vickers, and it is the great covered building of Vickers Shipbuilding Engineering Ltd's (VSEL) Devonshire Dock Hall, that today dominates the southern part of the town.
Recently opened in Barrow is the Dock Museum, a spectacular steel structure building suspended over a Victorian graving dock. This permanent exhibition focused on the industrial history of Barrow with particular reference to its shipbuilding tradition. The exhibition draws on the extensive VSEL collection of glass photographic negatives, dating from the 1870's and on loan to the Museum Service since 1991. These images document the development of the shipyard and of a town dominated by shipbuilding, and are an extraordinary resource. The museum also has a fine collection of ship models...many of the world's greatest ships, built in Barrow. Collection vessels include the Emily Barratt, the last wooden trading schooner to be built in Britain, and of particular importance to the West Cumbrian coast.
Many sites of interest are to be found in and around the town, including the isolated Piel Castle, and the peaceful expanse of Roanhead and Black Combe to the north. Within the Borough are a number of fascinating rural and urban nature trails which cover a wide range of interests all of which have been clearly marked for visitors.
Miles of unspoilt sandy beaches, bird sanctuaries, and nature reserves offer a haven for anybody searching for peace and tranquility. In all, Walney has 11 miles of coast, including the picturesque hamlets of North Scale and Biggar Village. On Walney's eastern side is Walney Channel which is extensively used for yachting.
On the mainland Rampside is a small pleasant village that look out on Morecambe Bay and a long stretch of sand. Rampside Hall is an old house with a range of 12 curious chimneys.
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