Bardsea is a village in the Low Furness

Furness

Furness is a peninsula in south Cumbria, England. At its widest extent, it is considered to cover the whole of North Lonsdale, that part of the Lonsdale hundred that is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay....

area of Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is two miles to the south-west of Ulverston

Ulverston

Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria in north-west England. Historically part of Lancashire, the town is located in the Furness area, close to the Lake District, and just north of Morecambe Bay....

 on the northern coast of Morecambe Bay

Morecambe Bay

Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...

. It lies within the historic borders

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. Bardsea, or Berretseige, is mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun held by Earl Tostig. Also once part of the medieval manor of Muchland

Muchland

Muchland is a medieval manor in Low Furness in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The manor was the seat of the Lords of Aldingham, and included at its peak the villages of Bardsea, Urswick, Scales, Stainton, Sunbrick, Baycliff, Gleaston, Aldingham, Dendron, Leece and Newbiggin...

.

Bardsea was a small farming and fishing village well into the 19th century. It was accessed mainly by crossing the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay. The church of Holy Trinity was consecrated in 1853: previously the area had been included within the parish of Urswick

Urswick

The villages of Great Urswick and Little Urswick, together called Urswick, are located in the Furness peninsula in Cumbria, England. They are situated to the south-west of the town of Ulverston....

.

The area was also associated with the early Quaker

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 movement; when founder George Fox

George Fox

George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...

 married local landowner Margaret Fell

Margaret Fell

Margaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...

, he took over Swarthmoor Hall

Swarthmoor Hall

Swarthmoor Hall is a mansion in Swarthmoor, in the Furness area of Cumbria in North West England. It was the home of Thomas and Margaret Fell, the latter an important player in the founding of the Religious Society of Friends movement in the 17th century. It remains in use today as a Quaker...

 and much of the land round Bardsea. There is an old Quaker burial ground nearby at Sunbrick on Birkrigg Common, where Margaret Fell

Margaret Fell

Margaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...

 was reputedly buried in 1702 (one authority suggests she was interred at the burial ground at Swarthmoor, although this is contradicted by other sources). George Fox himself was buried in London.

When iron ore mining and production led to industrialization in Furness, Bardsea became an important port, with steamers leaving for Fleetwood

Fleetwood

Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...

 and Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. This was short-lived, however, with the Furness Railway

Furness Railway

The Furness Railway was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England.-History:The company was established on May 23, 1844 when the Furness Railway Act was passed by Parliament...

 and Ulverston Canal

Ulverston Canal

The Ulverston Canal is a canal in the town of Ulverston, Cumbria, England. It is claimed to be the deepest, widest and straightest canal in the UK. It is entirely straight and on a single level...

 taking business away from the village by the late end of the Victorian period.

Bardsea currently has two public houses, the Ship Inn http://www.ship-inn-bardsea.co.uk/index a farm in 1750 and the Braddylls Arms, originally a coaching house dating back to the 18th century. Braddyll is a family name of landowners who traded in coal and iron ore.

Nearby locations of interest are the common with prehistoric Birkrigg stone circle

Birkrigg stone circle

The Birkrigg stone circle, also known as the Druid's Temple is a Bronze Age stone circle two miles south of Ulverston in the English county of Cumbria. It dates to between 1700 and 1400 BC....

, Sea Wood http://www.wt-woods.org.uk/seawood/description.asp which once belonged to Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

, the Manjushri Centre at Conishead Priory

Conishead Priory

Conishead Priory is a large Gothic Revival building on the Furness peninsula near Ulverston in Cumbria. The priory's name translates literally as 'King's Hill Priory'.-History of the site:...

 and Chapel Island

Chapel Island

Chapel Island is a limestone outcrop that lies in the Leven estuary of Morecambe Bay in England, less than one mile from the shoreline at Bardsea in the area known as Ulverston Sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in the county of Cumbria, in the area of the historic...

used as a sanctuary when crossing the sands.