Barrow-in-Furness
Encyclopedia
Barrow-in-Furness (ˈ, ˈbærɵ ɪn ˈfɜrns; commonly known as Barrow) is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness
in the county of Cumbria
, England
. It lies 49 mi (78.9 km) north of Liverpool
, 59 mi (95 km) northwest of Manchester
and 54 mi (86.9 km) southwest from the county town of Carlisle. The town is situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula
bordered by Morecambe Bay
, the Duddon Estuary
and the Irish Sea
. It has a population of 59,182, whilst the wider borough is home to 71,981 people.
In the Middle Ages
, Barrow was a small hamlet
within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness
. Furness Abbey
, on the outskirts of the modern day town, controlled the local economy before its dissolution
in 1537. Even as late as 1843 there were still only 32 dwellings including two pubs. The iron
prospector Henry Schneider
arrived in Furness in 1839 and, with other investors, opened the Furness Railway
in 1846 to transport iron ore and slate from local mines to the coast. Further hematite
deposits were discovered in 1850, of sufficient size to develop factories for smelting and exporting steel. By the late 19th century, Barrow was home to the largest steelworks in the world.
Barrow's location and the availability of steel allowed the town to develop into a significant producer of naval vessels, a shift that was accelerated during World War I
and the local yard's specialisation in submarines. The original iron- and steel- making enterprises closed down after World War II, leaving Vickers
boat building factory as Barrow's main industry and employer. The Royal Navy
flagships HMS Hermes
, HMS Invincible
and HMS Albion
as well as all four Vanguard class submarine
s, which carry Trident nuclear weapons, were manufactured at the facility. From the 1960s the shipyard increasingly specialised in the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. However with the end of the Cold War
and subsequent decrease in military spending
the town suffered high unemployment through lack of contracts, despite this the shipyard remains operational and the only submarine production facility in the UK.
' because of the sudden and rapid growth in its industry, economic stature and overall size. More recently the town has been dubbed the 'Capital of blue-collar
Britain' by The Daily Telegraph
as a result of its strong working class identity, Barrow is also often jokingly referred to as being located at the end of the longest cul-de-sac
in the country (because of its relatively isolated location at the tip of the Furness peninsula).
was controlled by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary of Furness, known as Furness Abbey
. This was located in the 'Vale of Nightshade', now on the outskirts of the town. Originally founded for the Savigniac order
, it was built on the orders of King Stephen of England
in 1123. Soon after the abbey's foundation the monks discovered iron ore deposits, later to prove the basis for the Furness economy. These thin strata, close to the surface, were extracted through open cut workings, which were then smelted by the monks in small bloomeries (early furnaces). The proceeds from mining, along with agriculture and fisheries, meant that by the 15th century the abbey had become the second richest and most powerful Cistercian abbey in England, after Fountains Abbey
in Yorkshire.
However, Barrow itself was just a hamlet in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness on the Furness peninsula, reliant on the land and sea for survival. Small quantities of iron and ore were exported from jetties on the channel separating the village from Walney Island
. Amongst the oldest buildings in Barrow are several cottages and farm houses in Newbarns
(now a ward of the town) which date back to the early 17th century. Even as late as 1843 there were still only 32 dwellings including two pubs.
arrived as a young speculator and dealer in iron, and he discovered large deposits of haematite in 1850. He and other investors founded the Furness Railway
, the first section of which opened in 1846 to transport the ore from the slate quarries at Kirkby-in-Furness
and haematite mines at Lindal-in-Furness
to a deep water harbour near Roa Island
. The crucial and difficult link across Morecambe Bay
between Ulverston
and Carnforth
on the main line was promoted, as the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway
, by a group led by John Brogden
and opened in 1857. It was promptly purchased by the Furness Railway
.
The docks built between 1867 and 1881 in the more sheltered channel between the mainland and Barrow Island
replaced the port at Roa Island. The increasing quantities of iron ore mined in Furness were then brought to Barrow to be transported by sea.
The investors in the burgeoning mining and railway industries decided greater profits could be made by smelting the iron ore into steel, and then exporting the finished product. Schneider and James Ramsden, the railway's general manager, erected blast furnace
s at Barrow that by 1876 formed the largest steelworks in the world. Its success was a result of the availability of local iron ore, coal from the Cumberland
mines and easy rail and sea transport. The Furness Railway, who counted local aristocrats William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
and the Duke of Buccleuch
as investors, kick-started the Industrial Revolution on the peninsula. The railway brought mined ore to the town, where the steelworks produced large quantities of steel. It was used for shipbuilding, and derived products such as rails were also exported from the newly built docks. Thus Barrow's population, only 700 in 1851, reached 10,000 by 1864 and 47,000 by 1881, forty years after the railway was built.
The sheltered strait between Barrow and Walney Island was an ideal location for the shipyard. The first ship to be built, the Jane Roper, was launched in 1852; the first steamship, a 3,000-ton liner named Duke of Devonshire, in 1873. Shipbuilding activity increased, and on 18 February 1871 the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was incorporated. Barrow's relative isolation from the United Kingdom's industrial heartlands meant that the newly formed company included several capabilities that would usually be subcontracted to other establishments. In particular, a large engineering works was constructed including a foundry and pattern shop, a forge, and an engine shop. In addition, the shipyard had a joiners' shop, a boat-building shed and a sailmaking and rigging loft.
During these boom years, Ramsden proposed building a planned town to accommodate the large workforce which had arrived. There are few planned towns in the United Kingdom, and Barrow is one of the oldest. Its centre contains a grid of well-built terraced houses, with a tree-lined road leading away from a central square. Ramsden later became the first mayor of Barrow, which was given municipal borough
status in 1867, and county borough status in 1889. The imposing red sandstone Town Hall
, designed by W.H. Lynn, was built in a neo-gothic style in 1887. Prior to this, the borough council had met at the railway headquarters: the railway company's control of industry extended to the administration of the town itself.
The Barrow Shipbuilding Company was taken over by the Sheffield steel firm of Vickers
in 1897, by which time the shipyard had surpassed the railway and steelworks as the largest employer and landowner in Barrow. The company constructed Vickerstown
, modelled on George Cadbury's Bournville
, on the adjacent Walney Island in the early 20th century to house its employees. It also commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design Abbey House
as a guest house and residence for its managing director, Commander Craven.
, was built in 1901, and by 1914 the UK had the most advanced submarine fleet in the world, with 94% of it constructed by Vickers. Vickers was also famous for the construction of airship hangars during the early 20th century. Well-known ships built in Barrow include the Mikasa
, Japanese flagship during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the liner SS Oriana
and the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible
and HMAS Melbourne. Thousands of local men fought abroad during World War I
, 616 were ultimately died in action.
During World War II, Barrow was a target for the German air force looking to disable the town's shipbuilding capabilities (see Barrow Blitz
). The town suffered the most in a short period between April and May 1941. During the war, a local housewife, Nella Last
, was selected to write a diary of her everyday experiences on the home front for the Mass-Observation
project. Her memoirs were later adapted for television as Housewife, 49
starring Victoria Wood. The difficulty in targeting bombs meant that the shipyards and steelworks were often missed, at the expense of the residential areas. Ultimately, 83 people were killed and 11,000 houses in the area were left damaged. To escape the heaviest bombardments, many people in the central areas left the town to sleep in hedgerows with some being permanently evacuated. Barrow's industry continued to supply the war effort, with Winston Churchill visiting the town on one occasion to launch the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable
. Besides the dozens of civilians killed during World War II, some 268 Barrovian men were also killed whilst in combat.
The end of the war saw the beginning of a long decline of mining and steel-making as a result of overseas competition and dwindling resources. The Barrow ironworks closed in 1963, three years after the last Furness mine shut. The by then small steelworks followed suit in 1983, leaving Barrow's shipyard as the town's principal industry. From the 1960s onwards it concentrated its efforts in submarine manufacture, and the UK's first nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Dreadnought
was constructed in 1960. HMS Resolution
, the Swiftsure-class
, Trafalgar-class
and Vanguard-class
submarines all followed.
The end of the Cold War in 1991 marked a reduction in the demand for military ships and submarines, and the town continued its decline. The shipyard's dependency on military contracts at the expense of civilian and commercial engineering and shipbuilding meant it was particularly hard hit as government defence spending was reduced dramatically. As a result, the workforce shrank from 14,500 in 1990 to 5,800 in February 1995, with overall unemployment in the town rising over that period from 4.6% to 10%. The rejection by the VSEL management of detailed plans for Barrow's industrial renewal in the mid-to-late 1980s remains controversial. This has led to renewed academic attention in recent years to the possibilities of converting military-industrial production in declining shipbuilding areas to the offshore renewable energy sector.
, 172 people were reported to have caught the disease, of whom seven died. This made it the fourth worst outbreak in the world in terms of number of cases and sixth worst in terms of deaths (see list of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks). The source of the bacteria was later found to be steam from a badly maintained air conditioning unit in the council-run arts centre Forum 28.
At the conclusion of the inquest into the seven deaths, the coroner for Furness and South Cumbria criticised the council for its health and safety failings. In 2006, council employee Gillian Beckingham and employer Barrow Borough Council
were cleared of seven charges of manslaughter, but both admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Beckingham, the council senior architect ultimately responsible for health and safety at the centre, was fined £15,000 and the authority £125,000. The borough council was the first public body in the country to face corporate manslaughter charges.
Many areas of the town have seen regeneration in the 1990s, and on 28 September 2007 Barrow's £200 million Dockland regeneration project began. Due to be completed by 2020, the project includes a new 'Barrow Marina Village' which will incorporate an £8 million 400-berth marina, 600 houses, restaurants, shops, hotels and a new state of the art bridge across Cavendish Dock. A large watersports centre is also being built, with the possibility of a cruise ship terminal. Some cruise ships are already scheduled to dock in Barrow, mainly for tourists to visit the Lake District, although there is no official cruise ship terminal yet. Dozens of cruise ships have visited the Port of Barrow
in recent years.
Shipyard
The shipyard has been given planning permission to construct a new assembly hall, dubbed 'Son of DDH' in a reference to the existing Devonshire Dock Hall
shipbuilding facility. However, the building will not now be used for the construction of aircraft carrier sections as the carrier build will now take place in Glasgow. John Hutton, former MP for Barrow, has however, promised that all seven Astute Class submarines will be built at the shipyard. Following a decline in employment levels at the shipyard over the last 20 years, BAE Systems recently announced that the current workforce of 3,835 could soon grow to 5,000, although this is still only a third of the 14,000 employed in the 1980s.
Proposed bridges
A second bridge to Walney Island from mainland Barrow is planned to relieve congestion and as an aid to 24-hour access for the emergency services, most of which are based on the mainland.
For many years there have been discussions on the possible construction of bridges across Morecambe Bay
and the Duddon Estuary
, leading to the Build Duddon and Morecambe Bridges party contesting national elections in the borough of Barrow and Furness
, receiving 409 (1.1%) votes in the 2005 general election
.
Morecambe Bay Bridge
The controversial idea of a 12 miles (19 km) long road bridge connecting Barrow to the Lancashire coast across Morecambe Bay
has long been proposed. More recently the design is said to have become more 'green
' : if built, it would become one of the world's longest bridges and it is hoped that it might be capable of powering hundreds of thousands of home via such renewable
sources as tidal power
.
Duddon Estuary Bridge
A smaller bridge (some 3 km long) crossing the Duddon Estuary linking Askam and Millom
would improve transport links to the area, cutting journey times from Barrow to parts of West Cumbria, but would require considerable finance. There has also been talk of building a road and rail tunnel under the Duddon instead of a bridge. There has been increased talk of this bridge since the announcement of Kirksanton on the North side of the Duddon Estuary being shortlisted as a site for a new nuclear power station.
and the largest settlement in the peninsula of Furness
. The borough is the direct inheritor of the municipal and county borough charters given to the town in the late 19th century. Historically it is part of the Hundred of Lonsdale
'north of the sands' in the historic county boundaries
of Lancashire
. Since the local government reforms enacted in England in 1974 the town has been within the administrative county of Cumbria
. It still forms a part of the Duchy of Lancaster
. The Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council
forms the 'lower' tier of local government under Cumbria County Council
. The town, along with Walney Island
, is unparished and forms the bulk of the wards which make the entire borough's area. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Barrow are elected annually, and hold the roles of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council. The borough and fomer county borough of Barrow-in-Furness have been served by 105 mayors, beginning with Sir James Ramsden in 1867 and continuing through to incumbent 2011 mayor Rory McClure. Between 2006 and 2011 no party held an overall majority of council seats
, but in the 2011 local election
, the Labour Party
gained overall control of the council.
The Barrow-in-Furness UK Parliament constituency first came into existence during the 1885 United Kingdom general election
, with David Duncan
of the Liberal Party
becoming the first MP
for the town. In 1983, the constituency was expanded to include several commuter towns such as Dalton-in-Furness and Ulverston and was renamed Barrow and Furness
. Barrow and Furness has largely been a Labour seat since then. In the 2010 general election, John Woodcock
was elected as MP for the constituency.
peninsula on the north-western edge of Morecambe Bay
. The town centre and major industrial areas sit on a fairly flat coastal shelf, with a gentle incline leading away from the coast. Ten miles to the north-east is the southern boundary of the Lake District National Park
.
, a 14 mile (22.5 km) long island connected to the mainland by the bascule
type Jubilee bridge
. About 13,000 live on the isle's various settlements, mostly in Vickerstown
, which was built to house workers in the rapidly expanding shipyard. Another significant island which lay in the Walney Channel was Barrow Island
, but following the filling of the channel to create land for the yard it is now directly connected to the town. Other islands which lie close to Barrow are Piel Island
, whose castle
protected the harbour from marauding Scot
s, Sheep Island
, Roa Island
and Foulney Island
.
Population
Barrow's population increased from the low thousands in the early 19th century to 60,000 in less than twenty years. Since the start of the 20th century the population of the town has gradually diminished to just under 60,000. The Barrow council district
, which includes the surrounding area, has a population of 71,980 according to the most recent census, placing it 326th out of the 376 local authorities in England and Wales (however the population density of 900 PD/km2 ranks 147th out of 376). Barrow-in-Furness can be regarded as the largest town in Cumbria, Carlisle in the north of the county having city status. It is also the 15th largest settlement in North West England and the 142nd largest in the United Kingdom. People from Barrow are known as Barrovians.
Ethnicity
2009 estimates state 95.9% of Barrow's population as indigenous White British, and ethnic minority populations in Barrow stand at 4.1%, the breakdown of which is shown in the table below. The first people to settle in what is now Barrow were the Celts and Scandinavians
followed by the Cornish
although in the late 19th century there was mass immigration from Scotland and other parts of England. Thus the distinction between these immigrants and the previous native population is not clear from the table below. Besides a sizeable South Asian
community, Barrow is also home to significant Chinese
, Filipino
, Kosovan, Polish and South African populations.
Country of birth
The 2001 UK census states that 93.56% (67,345) of the borough's population was born in England, 2.86% (2,061) in Scotland
, 0.63% (451) in Wales
, 0.68% (486) in Northern Ireland
, 0.32% (231) in the Republic of Ireland
and 0.06% (43) in the Channel Islands
. 0.61% (441) of the town's 2001 population were born in the rest of Europe
, although numbers are likely to be currently much higher, due to significant immigration from Eastern Europe (in particular Poland) to Barrow. Barrow has the eighth fastest growing non-indigenous white community of any town or city in the country, at 15.9% growth between 2004 and 2005. Barrow has also seen a huge increase with other ethnic minority groups, and the growth rate for most groups is around 2 times faster than national average. The Asia
n born population represented 0.50% (363) of Barrow's population, 0.35% (253) of people were born in North America
, 0.23% (177) of people were born in Africa
, 0.12% (83) of people were born in Oceania
, 0.04% (27) of Barrovians were born in Latin America
, and 0.02% (11) of people were born in some other place.
Religion
In the 2001 census 58,322 Barrovians stated themselves as being Christian. People stating no religion or chose not to state numbered 13,234 combined. The second largest religion in Barrow is Islam with a population of 182 Muslims. Other religious populations are as follows: 72 Buddhists, (nearby Conishead Priory
, the first Kadampa
Buddhist centre in the west, is home to around 100 Buddhists) 46 Hindus, 25 Jews and 96 with another religion.
Other
Out of the 56,987 age 16 or over in 2001, 43.81% were married, 26.26% single, 9.57% widowed, 9.36% divorced, 8.98% re-married and 2.01% separated (but still legally married). The Total Fertility Rate of Barrow is 1.54, lower than North West England's rate (1.66) and England's (1.65).
162 Barrovians were working in the Armed Forces in 2001 Barrow has one of the highest percentages of people on benefits in the entire United Kingdom, at 23% of the working age, it is much higher than England's average of 14%.
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The BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shipyard at Barrow is one of the largest shipyards in Britain. It was expanded in 1986 by construction of a new covered assembly facility, the Devonshire Dock Hall
(DDH), completed by Alfred McAlpine plc
, on land that was created by infilling part of the Devonshire Dock with 2.4 million tonnes of sand pumped from nearby Roosecote Sands. DDH is the tallest building in Cumbria at 51 m. With a length of 268 m (879.3 ft), width of 51 m (167.3 ft) and an area of 25000 square metres (269,097.8 sq ft) it is the second largest shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe.
The DDH provides a controlled environment for ship and submarine assembly, and avoids the difficulties caused by building on the slope of traditional slipways. Outside the hall, a 24,300 tonne capacity shiplift allows completed vessels to be lowered into the water independently of the tide. Vessels can also be lifted out of the water and transferred to the hall. The first use of the DDH was for construction of the Vanguard-class
submarines, and later vessels of the Trafalgar-class
submarines were also built there. The shipyard is currently constructing the Astute-class submarines
the first of which was launched on 8 June 2007. BAE Systems is currently studying the design of a new class
of ballistic missile submarines. BAE Systems also has orders for submarine pressure domes for the Spanish Navy
.
BAE Systems has obtained planning permission from Barrow Borough Council for the new Central Assembly Shop dubbed 'Son of DDH' which will provide over 700 new jobs, initially in construction of a large section of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier
s. (hull lower block 3). Despite the large fall in numbers employed by the shipyard, Barrow retains a high proportion of workers in the manufacturing industry.
The shipyard does not build submarines exclusively: it undertook fitting out and commissioning of helicopter carrier HMS Ocean
in the mid-1990s (although the ship was built by Kvaerner Govan
in Glasgow), and construction of Wave-class tanker Wave Knight
and Albion-class
amphibious assault ships HMS Albion
and HMS Bulwark
.
Associated British Ports Holdings
owns and operates the port of Barrow
which can berth vessels up to 200 m (656.2 ft) long and with a draught of 10 m (32.8 ft). Principal traffic includes the export of condensate by-product from the production of gas at the Rampside Gas Terminal
, wood pulp, and locally quarried limestone which is exported to Scandinavia for use in the paper industry. The port, which has deep water access, also handles the shipment of nuclear fuels and radioactive waste for BNFL
's nearby Sellafield
plant.
James Fisher & Sons
plc, a service provider in all sectors of the marine industry and a specialist supplier of engineering services to the nuclear industry in the UK and abroad, was founded in Barrow in 1847 and is the largest company to have its headquarters situated in Cumbria. Annual revenue stood at almost £90 million in 2007 (up 55% from £57 million in 2006), as well as staff numbers standing at over 1,000 worldwide, with 120 of those in the Barrow headquarters.
In 1985, gas was discovered in Morecambe Bay, and to this day the products have been processed onshore at Rampside Gas Terminal
in south Barrow. The complex is opperated jointly by Centrica
and ConocoPhillips
. Directly adjacent to Rampside Gas Terminal is Roosecote Power Station
which was the first CCGT
power station to supply electricity to the United Kingdom's National Grid. Although originally coal-fired, the station is now gas-fired.
Barrow and its wider urban area form part of 'Britain's Energy Coast', and has one of the highest concentrations of wind farm
s in the world, the vast majority are located offshore and have been built during the early 2010s. All four of these wind farms are located off the coast of Walney Island, including the 108 turbine West Duddon Wind Farm
, 102 turbine Walney Wind Farm
, 30 turbine Barrow Offshore Wind Farm and 30 turbine Ormonde Wind Farm
.
Sellafield
and Heysham nuclear power station are also located within 25 mi (40.2 km) of Barrow.
, Barrow has been referred to as a 'gateway to the lakes', a status which could be enhanced by the new marina complex and planned cruise ship terminal. Barrow itself has several tourist attractions, including the Dock Museum
. The museum tells the history of Barrow (including the steelworks industry, shipyard and Barrow Blitz
), as well as offering gallery space to local artists and schoolchildren. It is built upon and around an old graving dock. Barrow also has a popular indoor market, which features a food hall as well as stalls selling clothes and other goods. Barrow has been described as the Lake District's premier shopping town, with 'big name shops mingling with small local ones', and being home to Portland Walk Shopping Centre
. The town also features Hollywood Park - a leisure facility with restaurants, shops and Cumbria's largest cinema. The town also features several other retail parks (including Cornmill Crossing, Cornerhouse Retail Park, Hindpool Retail Park and Walney Road Retail Park). The Park Leisure Centre is a fitness suite with a pool, set in the 45 acres (18.2 ha) Barrow Park. Walney Island has two world renowned nature reserves (the 130 hectare South Walney Nature Reserve and 650 hectare North Walney Nature Reserve
). The historic ruins of Furness Abbey
and Piel Castle
, which are both managed by English Heritage
, are also popular tourist destinations. South Lakes Wild Animal Park
is one of Europe's leading conservation zoos and has been voted Cumbria's best tourist attraction for five non-consecutive years, it is located within the borough of Barrow-in-Furness on the outskirts of Dalton.
, through Furness General Hospital
, which employs 1,800 staff and the Kimberly Clark paper mill which has 400 employees. Amongst many retailers that have established themselves in Barrow, the furniture store Stollers
is noted as being one of the largest shops of its kind in the UK.
Barrow's principal road link is the A590
, linking it to Ulverston
, the Lake District
and to the M6 motorway
. Just north of Barrow is the southern terminus of the A595
, linking the town to Whitehaven
, Workington
and eventually Carlisle. The possibility of a bridge link over Morecambe Bay
is occasionally raised, with feasibility studies currently underway. Abbey Road is the principal road network through central Barrow, whilst Walney Bridge
connects Barrow Island to Walney Island
.
Bus
Bus services within the town are operated by Stagecoach North West
. There is no specifically designated bus station, although many buses start and terminate their routes near the town hall. The original bus station was known for its role in a 1970s television commercial for Chewits
sweets before its demolition. Other services link Barrow with outlying villages as well as longer distance routes to Dalton-in-Furness
, Ulverston
and Kendal
.
Rail
Barrow-in-Furness railway station
provides connections to Whitehaven
, Workington
and Carlisle to the north, via the Cumbrian Coast Line
and to Ulverston
, Grange-over-Sands
and Lancaster
to the east, via the Furness Line
. It handles 503,800 passengers annually. Barrow has a second railway station, Roose
, which serves the suburb of the same name.
Furness Abbey
, Barrow's third main line station, closed in 1950. There was also a station on Barrow Island, used to enable workers at Vickers Limited
(as it was then known) to commute directly between the shipyard and nearby towns served by the Furness Railway
. This railway link was severed in 1966 when the famous cradle bridge across the docks was closed permanently for safety reasons.
Air
Barrow/Walney Island Airport operates two Beechkraft Kingair 250 aircraft which fly to various destinations every weekday, including Manchester, Bristol and Blackpool. It is owned and operated by BAE Systems
(IATA airport code
: BWF, ICAO: EGNL). The longest runway is almost 4,000 feet long. It is one of two airports in the county, the other being Carlisle Lake District Airport (which alongside Barrow once served as a commercial domestic airport). The nearest international airport is Blackpool International Airport, although most people from Barrow use the larger Liverpool
and Manchester airports.
Sea
Despite being one of the UK's leading shipbuilding centres, the Associated British Ports' Port of Barrow
is only a minor port. The only ferry links are between Roa Island
and Piel Island
, but there are proposals to create a cruise ship terminal.
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C.
are in the Conference National
division of English football. The team, founded in 1901, are nicknamed "the Bluebirds" and play their home games at the Holker Street
stadium. The side were members of the Football League until they were demoted in 1972. In 1990, they won the FA Trophy
beating Leek Town
3-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. Twenty years later, on 8 May 2010, Barrow
repeated the feat, beating Stevenage Borough
2-1 after extra time. Football players born in Barrow include England internationals Emlyn Hughes
and Gary Stevens
, as well as Harry Hadley
, and Vic Metcalfe
.
Of current professional footballers, Wayne Curtis
, Morecambe
striker, and Iran Under-20 and Hibernian
winger Shana Haji both hail from the town.
Holker Old Boys F.C.
Holker Old Boys, based at Rakesmoor Lane, are the town's second most successful football team, and they play in the North West Counties Football League
Division One.
Barrow RLFC
Rugby league
is a well-established sport and the town is considered as one of the game's traditional heartlands at professional and amateur levels. The professional team, Barrow Raiders
, whose home games are at Craven Park
, play in The Championship. In the 1950s the side played in three Challenge Cup finals, winning the last of these against Workington Town
. In the 1997 reorganisation of the sport the original Barrow RLFC team merged with Carlisle Border Raiders
to form Barrow Border Raiders, with the word "border" later dropped. Players who were born in the town and played at a professional level include brothers Ade
and Mat Gardner
and Willie Horne
. The latter captained Barrow to their Challenge Cup victory and represented Great Britain at an international level. He was inducted in to the "Barrow Hall of Fame" along with former Barrow players Phil Jackson and Jimmy Lewthwaite
.
Motorcycle Racing
Barrow-in-Furness has staged speedway racing at three venues since the pioneer days in the late 1920s. The first track was at Holker Street. This venue had a revival for a short spell in the early-to-mid 1970s. In 1930 the sport moved to Little Park but this a somewhat hazy venue. The sport had a revival in 1978 at Park Avenue Industrial Estate but this was relatively short lived.
Golf
Barrow is home to two large golf clubs. Barrow Golf Club, founded in 1922, is situated in Hawcoat and covers some 6209 yards (5,677.5 m) with 18 holes. Furness Golf Club founded in 1872 is the sixth oldest golf club in England and is possibly the more famous of the two. It is located on Walney Island, just 50 yards (45.7 m) from the Irish Sea. It also offers an 18-hole course, a shop and other facilities.
, Barrow's main public library
, the Nan Tait Centre
, old Central Fire Station, Salvation Army
, St. George's Church
, St. Mary's Church
, St. James' Church
and Trinity Church
. There is also an increasing number of modern office buildings as well as the shipyard's cranes and construction halls which dominate much of Barrow's skyline. Barrow has 8 Grade I listed buildings, 15 Grade II* and 249 Grade II buildings.
Barrow has produced several musical performers of note. They include Thomas Round
, a singer and actor in D'Oyly Carte productions of Savoy Opera
as well as Glenn Cornick
, the original bass guitarist in the rock band Jethro Tull
. The father of Simply Red
's Mick Hucknall
was born in Barrow before moving to Manchester
. In addition, Paul MacKenzie, bass player with 1980s Preston-based thrash metal band Xentrix
, is from Barrow. More recently, hip-hop DJ and record producer Aim
has had considerable commercial success.
Les Muscutt, jazz banjo player and guitarist was born in Barrow in Furness in 1942. The family moved to East Ham in London where Les became a professional musician at age 15.
Shortly after the Second World War, an Old Tyme Dancing trio was formed by Wyn Large (piano), Felix Lee (piano accordion) and Reg Powell (drums). This group entertained three or more times a week at several venues in the town and surrounding districts and was very popular with those locals who enjoyed keeping Old Tyme dancing alive. Wyn Large was succeeded by Billy Steele in the 1960s after which the group became known as the Felix Lee Trio until it disbanded in the 1970s because of the increasing age of its members.
Expressive arts
Several notables in Art and Literature have come from Barrow. Artist Keith Tyson
, the 2002 Turner Prize
winner, was born in nearby Ulverston
, attended the Barrow-in-Furness College of Engineering and worked at the then VSEL shipyard. Constance Spry
, the author and florist who revolutionised interior design in the 1930s and 40s, moved to the town with her son Anthony during World War I to work as a welfare supervisor. Peter Purves
, later a Blue Peter
presenter, began his acting career with 2 years as a member of the Renaissance Theatre Company at the town's Her Majesty's Theatre.
The Canteen Media & Arts Centre - known simply as "The Canteen" - and Forum Twenty Eight
are the main venues for theatre.
Literature
In fictional works, Barrow and Vickerstown
on Walney Island
featured in children's show The Railway Series
, which developed into Thomas the Tank Engine
, as the point where the fictional Island of Sodor
connected to mainland Britain and the national rail network.
The great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa
wrote a poem called "Barrow-in-Furness". His "heteronym" Álvaro de Campos
lived in Barrow when he was studying ship engineering.
There is one paid-for evening daily paper, the North West Evening Mail. There is also a weekly freesheet called the Advertiser, which is delivered to most households in the Furness area. Both are owned by independent publisher the CN Group
, formerly Cumbrian Newspapers.
Radio
Barrow is served by one commercial radio station, The Bay
, which is broadcast from Lancaster and serves the area around Morecambe Bay
. Another commercial station, Abbey FM, ceased broadcasting in February 2009 when it went into administration. The BBC's local radio service is BBC Radio Cumbria
, who have studio facilities in the town.
Television
Barrow lies in the Granada TV – North West England
region with the main signal coming from the Winter Hill
transmitter near Bolton. There is also a relay transmitter at Millom
whose signal can be received in the northern end of the town.
Various television personalities were born in the district. Dave Myers was a biker born in Barrow, before he found fame as one half of television cookery duo The Hairy Bikers
. Karen Taylor
is a TV comedienne best known for her BBC Three sketch show Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor
. Steve Dixon
is a newsreader for Sky News, while Nigel Kneale
was a well-known film and television scriptwriter. Peter Purves
, the sixth presenter of Blue Peter
also lived and worked in Barrow for a time.
Wartime diarist and local housewife Nella Last
's memoirs were adapted for television, with parts of the town used in filming. The resulting programme, Housewife, 49
, written by and starring comedienne Victoria Wood
, was broadcast by ITV in 2006. It won two BAFTA
awards - one for Best Single Drama, the other for Best Actress (Victoria Wood).
CITV children's show The Treacle People
had two villains named Barrow and Furness.
, Strathclyde
, and Tyneside
which were successful mining and shipbuilding centres already in existence. As Glaswegian
and Geordie
dialects mingled in Barrow numerous more migrated from Lancashire and elsewhere in England which in effect created the Barrovian dialect. In general the Barrovian dialect tends to drop certain letters (including H and T); for example holiday could be pronounced as 'oliday, with more emphasis on the letter O. Similarly the local area of Hindpool
which could be pronounced "'indpool" with emphasis on the letter I. Another example is with the letter T where twenty is often pronounced "twen'y" (again an emphasis on the letters N or Y could occur); see Cumbrian dialect
as well as Lancashire dialect
for more information.
and Cornwallis Street. Popular venues on Duke Street include the following bars: Jeffersons, The Lounge, Bar Cairo, Yates's
. Cornwallis Street – often dubbed the Gaza Strip
by locals – is currently undergoing a multi-million pound renovation with the former Martinis being the flagship renovation into Club M. Other clubs on Cornwallis Street include: Kavannas, O'Sullivans and Skint. Between 2004 and 2010 Barrow was home to one of North West England's largest nightclubs, the capacity Blue Lagoon occupied the entire hull of the former Danish ferry Princess Selandia
which still remains moored at Town Quay, Buccleuch Dock.
location in the United Kingdom, based on a series of measures devised to judge the lifestyle of the people. The research was carried out by Locallife.co.uk which determined that there is a fish and chip shop
, working men's club
, bookmaker
s or trade union office
for every 2,917 people (Crewe
, Doncaster
, Wolverhampton
and Preston completed the top five of 'the most working class places in Britain'). This is in direct contrast to the 1870s when a developing Barrow had more aristocrats
per head of the population than anywhere else in the country.
In 2007 Barrow was ranked as the 29th most deprived district in England (out of a total of 354), whilst 44% of wards within the town are in the most deprived fifth of English wards and areas.
which is operated by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and located on the outskirts of the town. As of July 2010 there are 12 NHS GP practices/doctors surgeries and 5 NHS dental surgeries in Barrow. The average life expectancy
for males in Barrow is 76.0 years (compared to England average of 77.7) and 80.9 years for females (again compared to national average of 81.8). The 2001 UK Census showed that 63.12% of Barrovians were in good health, 23.63% in fairly good health and 13.25% in bad health. This compared to England's averages of 68.76%, 22.21% and 9.03% respectively show that in general people in Barrow are in a slightly worse state of health than England as a nation. A 2009 NHS
in depth publication of health in Barrow indicated that, eight years later the population of Barrow despite becoming healthier is still worse off than national average. The opening statement of the publication read 'The health of people in Barrow-in-Furness is varied. Many indicators are significantly worse than the England average, including violent crime
and binge drinking
adults (an estimate). However, a number of indicators are similar to the average, such as GCSE
achievement and healthy eating adults (an estimate), and a fifth of indicators are significantly better than average, including physically active
children and adults.' One fairly alarming figure is that Barrow has the tenth worst rate of incapacity benefit
claimants for mental illness in the country. The NHS also identified Barrow as having significantly worse figures than England average in the fields of deprivation
, child poverty
, violent crime, breast feeding initiation, children's tooth decay
, binge drinking adults, over 65s 'not in good health', hospital stays for alcohol related harm, male and female life expectancy, deaths from smoking
and early deaths from cancer
. Despite this, as stated earlier the number of physically active children and adults in Barrow is significantly better than England average, whilst the town also has much lower numbers of drug misusers
, diabetes
sufferers and road accident injuries and deaths. All other aspects of the health of Barrow's population have been stated as more or less level with nationwide average.
Education in the state sector is provided by the local education authority, Cumbria County Council
. There are fifteen primary schools, five infant school
s, five junior school
s and many nurseries. Five secondary schools were created following the reorganisation of Barrow's selective tri-partite secondary education system in 1979: Parkview School
, St. Bernard's Catholic High School
, Walney School
, Thorncliffe School
and Alfred Barrow School
. Three schools - Parkview, Thorncliffe and Alfred Barrow closed in August 2009 with the new Furness Academy
opening in their place from early September 2009. In addition to publicly funded education, the town has one private school, Chetwynde
, which has fee-paying pupils from nursery to sixth form
level.
In the further education sector there are two colleges. Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College concentrates on teaching A-level subjects, while Furness College
specialises in vocational courses.
The town's main library is the Central Library
in Ramsden Square, situated near the town centre. The library was established in 1882 in a room near the town hall, and moved to its current premises in 1922. A branch of the County Archive Service, opened in 1979 and containing many of the town's archives, is located within adjoining premises, whilst until 1991 the library also housed the Furness Museum, a forerunner of the Dock Museum. Smaller branch libraries are currently provided at Walney, Roose
and Barrow Island.
Barrow-in-Furness (borough)
Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
in the county 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 lies 49 mi (78.9 km) north of 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...
, 59 mi (95 km) northwest of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and 54 mi (86.9 km) southwest from the county town of Carlisle. The town is situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula
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....
bordered by 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,...
, the Duddon Estuary
Duddon Estuary
The Duddon Estuary is the sandy, gritty estuary of the River Duddon that lies between Morecambe Bay and the west Cumbrian coast.It opens into the Irish Sea to the north of the Furness peninsula; Walney Island forming part of its southern edge...
and the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
. It has a population of 59,182, whilst the wider borough is home to 71,981 people.
In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Barrow was a small hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness
Dalton-in-Furness
Dalton-in-Furness is a small town of 8,394 people, north east of Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, England.-History:Dalton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, written as "Daltune" as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun held by Earl Tostig. Historically, it was the capital of Furness...
. Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness is a former monastery situated on the outskirts of the English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behind only Fountains Abbey in North...
, on the outskirts of the modern day town, controlled the local economy before its dissolution
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in 1537. Even as late as 1843 there were still only 32 dwellings including two pubs. The iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
prospector Henry Schneider
Henry Schneider
Henry William Schneider was a British industrialist, and politician, who played a leading role in the development of the new town of Barrow-in-Furness.-Brief biography:...
arrived in Furness in 1839 and, with other investors, opened 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...
in 1846 to transport iron ore and slate from local mines to the coast. Further hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
deposits were discovered in 1850, of sufficient size to develop factories for smelting and exporting steel. By the late 19th century, Barrow was home to the largest steelworks in the world.
Barrow's location and the availability of steel allowed the town to develop into a significant producer of naval vessels, a shift that was accelerated during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the local yard's specialisation in submarines. The original iron- and steel- making enterprises closed down after World War II, leaving Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
boat building factory as Barrow's main industry and employer. The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
flagships HMS Hermes
HMS Hermes (R12)
HMS Hermes was a Centaur-class British aircraft carrier, the last of the postwar conventional aircraft carriers commissioned into the Royal Navy.-Construction and modifications:...
, HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (R05)
HMS Invincible was a British light aircraft carrier, the lead ship of three in her class in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 3 May 1977 and is the seventh ship to carry the name. She saw action in the Falklands War when she was deployed with , she took over as flagship of the British fleet when...
and HMS Albion
HMS Albion (L14)
HMS Albion is a Landing Platform Dock of the Royal Navy, the first of the two-ship Albion class. Built by BAE Systems Marine in Barrow-in-Furness, Albion was launched in March 2001 by the Princess Royal...
as well as all four Vanguard class submarine
Vanguard class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
s, which carry Trident nuclear weapons, were manufactured at the facility. From the 1960s the shipyard increasingly specialised in the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. However with the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and subsequent decrease in military spending
Peace dividend
The peace dividend is a political slogan popularized by US President George H.W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the early 1990s, purporting to describe the economic benefit of a decrease in defense spending. It is used primarily in discussions relating to the guns versus butter...
the town suffered high unemployment through lack of contracts, despite this the shipyard remains operational and the only submarine production facility in the UK.
Toponymy
The name was originally that of an island—the name 'Barrai' can be traced back to 1190. This was later renamed 'Old Barrow', recorded as Oldebarrey in 1537, and Old Barrow Insula and Barrohead in 1577. The island was then joined to the mainland and the town took its name. The name itself seems to mean 'island with promontory', combining British barro- and Old Norse ey, but it is more likely that Scandinavian settlers simply accepted barro- as a meaningless name, and so added an explanatory Old Norse second element.Nicknames
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Barrow was nicknamed the 'English ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
' because of the sudden and rapid growth in its industry, economic stature and overall size. More recently the town has been dubbed the 'Capital of blue-collar
Blue-collar worker
A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled, manufacturing, mining, construction, mechanical, maintenance, technical installation and many other types of physical work...
Britain' by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
as a result of its strong working class identity, Barrow is also often jokingly referred to as being located at the end of the longest cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
in the country (because of its relatively isolated location at the tip of the Furness peninsula).
Early history
In the Middle Ages the Furness peninsulaFurness
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....
was controlled by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary of Furness, known as Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness is a former monastery situated on the outskirts of the English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behind only Fountains Abbey in North...
. This was located in the 'Vale of Nightshade', now on the outskirts of the town. Originally founded for the Savigniac order
Congregation of Savigny
The monastic Congregation of Savigny started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established a hermitage in the forest at Savigny in France.-Founding:Vitalis was a...
, it was built on the orders of King Stephen of England
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
in 1123. Soon after the abbey's foundation the monks discovered iron ore deposits, later to prove the basis for the Furness economy. These thin strata, close to the surface, were extracted through open cut workings, which were then smelted by the monks in small bloomeries (early furnaces). The proceeds from mining, along with agriculture and fisheries, meant that by the 15th century the abbey had become the second richest and most powerful Cistercian abbey in England, after Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey is near to Aldfield, approximately two miles southwest of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. It is a ruined Cistercian monastery, founded in 1132. Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England. It is a Grade I listed building and owned by the...
in Yorkshire.
However, Barrow itself was just a hamlet in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness on the Furness peninsula, reliant on the land and sea for survival. Small quantities of iron and ore were exported from jetties on the channel separating the village from Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
. Amongst the oldest buildings in Barrow are several cottages and farm houses in Newbarns
Newbarns
Newbarns is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Hawcoat, Parkside, Risedale and Roose, the local population stood at 5,515 in 2001. Newbarns covers an area of 2.78 square kilometres and lies east of Abbey Road, and encompases Furness Abbey, Barrow...
(now a ward of the town) which date back to the early 17th century. Even as late as 1843 there were still only 32 dwellings including two pubs.
19th century
In 1839 Henry SchneiderHenry Schneider
Henry William Schneider was a British industrialist, and politician, who played a leading role in the development of the new town of Barrow-in-Furness.-Brief biography:...
arrived as a young speculator and dealer in iron, and he discovered large deposits of haematite in 1850. He and other investors founded 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...
, the first section of which opened in 1846 to transport the ore from the slate quarries at Kirkby-in-Furness
Kirkby-in-Furness
Kirkby-in-Furness is a village in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. It is about 5 km south of Broughton in Furness and 8 km northwest of Ulverston. It is one of the largest villages on the peninsula's north-western coast, looking out over the Duddon estuary and the mountains of the...
and haematite mines at Lindal-in-Furness
Lindal-in-Furness
Lindal-in-Furness is a village on the Furness peninsula of Cumbria, England. It lies four miles to the east of Barrow-in-Furness, on the A590 trunk road....
to a deep water harbour near Roa Island
Roa Island
Roa Island lies just over half a mile south of the village of Rampside at the southernmost point of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, though formerly in the area of Lancashire north of the sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in northern England. It has an area of about...
. The crucial and difficult link across 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,...
between 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....
and Carnforth
Carnforth
- References :...
on the main line was promoted, as the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway
Ulverston and Lancaster Railway
The “Ulverstone” and Lancaster Railway Company was short-lived as a business but the line that it built is still in daily use. The line runs from Lindal-in-Furness to Carnforth where it joins what was then the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway...
, by a group led by John Brogden
John Brogden (industrialist)
John Brogden was a cleansing, building and railway contractor, railway promoter, a miner of coal and iron and an iron smelter. He was brought up on a farm near Clitheroe, Lancashire. As a young man he migrated to a rapidly growing Manchester and applied his farmer's knowledge of horses as a...
and opened in 1857. It was promptly purchased by the Furness Railway
.
The docks built between 1867 and 1881 in the more sheltered channel between the mainland and Barrow Island
Barrow Island (England)
Barrow Island is a built up island forming part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is counted as one of the Islands of Furness although it has not been a real island since the 1980s when part of the Devonshire Dock was filled in to provide land for the building of Devonshire Dock Hall...
replaced the port at Roa Island. The increasing quantities of iron ore mined in Furness were then brought to Barrow to be transported by sea.
The investors in the burgeoning mining and railway industries decided greater profits could be made by smelting the iron ore into steel, and then exporting the finished product. Schneider and James Ramsden, the railway's general manager, erected blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s at Barrow that by 1876 formed the largest steelworks in the world. Its success was a result of the availability of local iron ore, coal from the Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
mines and easy rail and sea transport. The Furness Railway, who counted local aristocrats William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as The Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor and politician.-Background and education:Cavendish was the son of William Cavendish, eldest...
and the Duke of Buccleuch
Duke of Buccleuch
The title Duke of Buccleuch , formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne...
as investors, kick-started the Industrial Revolution on the peninsula. The railway brought mined ore to the town, where the steelworks produced large quantities of steel. It was used for shipbuilding, and derived products such as rails were also exported from the newly built docks. Thus Barrow's population, only 700 in 1851, reached 10,000 by 1864 and 47,000 by 1881, forty years after the railway was built.
During these boom years, Ramsden proposed building a planned town to accommodate the large workforce which had arrived. There are few planned towns in the United Kingdom, and Barrow is one of the oldest. Its centre contains a grid of well-built terraced houses, with a tree-lined road leading away from a central square. Ramsden later became the first mayor of Barrow, which was given municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
status in 1867, and county borough status in 1889. The imposing red sandstone Town Hall
Barrow-in-Furness Town Hall
Barrow-in-Furness Town Hall is a Victorian-era, neo-gothic municipal building in Barrow-in-Furness, England. The building serves as the base of Barrow Borough Council and houses a number of local government departments. The building was constructed in a four year period entirely from local sandstone...
, designed by W.H. Lynn, was built in a neo-gothic style in 1887. Prior to this, the borough council had met at the railway headquarters: the railway company's control of industry extended to the administration of the town itself.
The Barrow Shipbuilding Company was taken over by the Sheffield steel firm of Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
in 1897, by which time the shipyard had surpassed the railway and steelworks as the largest employer and landowner in Barrow. The company constructed Vickerstown
Vickerstown
Vickerstown is an area located on the Isle of Walney, near to the mainland town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Albeit not part of mainland Cumbria, Vickerstown is still regarded as part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness. It is an example of a planned estate built for workers by a company needing to...
, modelled on George Cadbury's Bournville
Bournville
Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded "Bournville". It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre...
, on the adjacent Walney Island in the early 20th century to house its employees. It also commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design Abbey House
Abbey House, Barrow-in-Furness
Abbey House, Barrow-in-Furness in the modern county of Cumbria, formerly in Lancashire , is a Neo-Elizabethan H-plan mansion built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1913-14 as a guest house for Vickers Ltd and a flat for the Managing Director, Sir James McKechnie. In its abstracted, military echo of the...
as a guest house and residence for its managing director, Commander Craven.
20th century
By the 1890s the shipyard was heavily engaged in the construction of warships for the Royal Navy and also for export. The Royal Navy's first submarine, Holland 1Holland 1
Holland 1 was the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy, the first in a six-boat batch of the Holland-class submarine. She was lost in 1913 while under tow to the scrapyard following decommissioning...
, was built in 1901, and by 1914 the UK had the most advanced submarine fleet in the world, with 94% of it constructed by Vickers. Vickers was also famous for the construction of airship hangars during the early 20th century. Well-known ships built in Barrow include the Mikasa
Japanese battleship Mikasa
is a pre-Dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, launched in Britain in 1900. She served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō during the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. The ship is preserved as...
, Japanese flagship during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the liner SS Oriana
SS Oriana (1959)
SS Oriana was the last of the Orient Steam Navigation Company's ocean liners. She was built at Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and launched on 3 November 1959 by Princess Alexandra...
and the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (R05)
HMS Invincible was a British light aircraft carrier, the lead ship of three in her class in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 3 May 1977 and is the seventh ship to carry the name. She saw action in the Falklands War when she was deployed with , she took over as flagship of the British fleet when...
and HMAS Melbourne. Thousands of local men fought abroad during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, 616 were ultimately died in action.
During World War II, Barrow was a target for the German air force looking to disable the town's shipbuilding capabilities (see Barrow Blitz
Barrow Blitz
The Barrow Blitz is the name given to the Luftwaffe bombings of Barrow-in-Furness, England during World War II. It took place primarily during April and May 1941, although the earliest Luftwaffe bombing occurred in September 1940.-Prelude:...
). The town suffered the most in a short period between April and May 1941. During the war, a local housewife, Nella Last
Nella Last
Nella Last was a housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1965 making it one of the most substantial diaries held by M-O...
, was selected to write a diary of her everyday experiences on the home front for the Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation
Mass Observation was a United Kingdom social research organisation founded in 1937. Their work ended in the mid 1960s but was revived in 1981. The Archive is housed at the University of Sussex....
project. Her memoirs were later adapted for television as Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
starring Victoria Wood. The difficulty in targeting bombs meant that the shipyards and steelworks were often missed, at the expense of the residential areas. Ultimately, 83 people were killed and 11,000 houses in the area were left damaged. To escape the heaviest bombardments, many people in the central areas left the town to sleep in hedgerows with some being permanently evacuated. Barrow's industry continued to supply the war effort, with Winston Churchill visiting the town on one occasion to launch the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable
HMS Indomitable (R92)
HMS Indomitable was a modified Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. The Illustrious class came about due to the 1937 Naval Programme...
. Besides the dozens of civilians killed during World War II, some 268 Barrovian men were also killed whilst in combat.
The end of the war saw the beginning of a long decline of mining and steel-making as a result of overseas competition and dwindling resources. The Barrow ironworks closed in 1963, three years after the last Furness mine shut. The by then small steelworks followed suit in 1983, leaving Barrow's shipyard as the town's principal industry. From the 1960s onwards it concentrated its efforts in submarine manufacture, and the UK's first nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought (S101)
The seventh HMS Dreadnought was the United Kingdom's first nuclear-powered submarine, built by Vickers Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness. Launched by Queen Elizabeth II on Trafalgar Day 1960 and commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in April 1963, she continued in service until 1980...
was constructed in 1960. HMS Resolution
HMS Resolution
Several ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Resolution. However, the first English warship to bear the name Resolution was actually the first rate Prince Royal , which was renamed Resolution in 1650 following the inauguration of the Commonwealth, and continued to bear that name until...
, the Swiftsure-class
Swiftsure class submarine
The Swiftsure class were a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy from the early 1970s until 2010....
, Trafalgar-class
Trafalgar class submarine
The Trafalgar class is a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. They are a direct follow on from the Swiftsure class and were, until the introduction of the Astute class, the Royal Navy's most advanced nuclear fleet submarines.Seven boats were built and...
and Vanguard-class
Vanguard class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
submarines all followed.
The end of the Cold War in 1991 marked a reduction in the demand for military ships and submarines, and the town continued its decline. The shipyard's dependency on military contracts at the expense of civilian and commercial engineering and shipbuilding meant it was particularly hard hit as government defence spending was reduced dramatically. As a result, the workforce shrank from 14,500 in 1990 to 5,800 in February 1995, with overall unemployment in the town rising over that period from 4.6% to 10%. The rejection by the VSEL management of detailed plans for Barrow's industrial renewal in the mid-to-late 1980s remains controversial. This has led to renewed academic attention in recent years to the possibilities of converting military-industrial production in declining shipbuilding areas to the offshore renewable energy sector.
21st century
In the 2002 Barrow-in-Furness Legionnaires' disease outbreak2002 Barrow-in-Furness Legionnaires' disease outbreak
The 2002 Barrow-in-Furness Legionnaires' disease outbreak was a fatal outbreak of Legionellosis which occurred in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England it was and still remains the second worst outbreak of its kind in the country's history.-History:...
, 172 people were reported to have caught the disease, of whom seven died. This made it the fourth worst outbreak in the world in terms of number of cases and sixth worst in terms of deaths (see list of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks). The source of the bacteria was later found to be steam from a badly maintained air conditioning unit in the council-run arts centre Forum 28.
At the conclusion of the inquest into the seven deaths, the coroner for Furness and South Cumbria criticised the council for its health and safety failings. In 2006, council employee Gillian Beckingham and employer Barrow Borough Council
Barrow-in-Furness (borough)
Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
were cleared of seven charges of manslaughter, but both admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Beckingham, the council senior architect ultimately responsible for health and safety at the centre, was fined £15,000 and the authority £125,000. The borough council was the first public body in the country to face corporate manslaughter charges.
Regeneration
The WaterfrontMany areas of the town have seen regeneration in the 1990s, and on 28 September 2007 Barrow's £200 million Dockland regeneration project began. Due to be completed by 2020, the project includes a new 'Barrow Marina Village' which will incorporate an £8 million 400-berth marina, 600 houses, restaurants, shops, hotels and a new state of the art bridge across Cavendish Dock. A large watersports centre is also being built, with the possibility of a cruise ship terminal. Some cruise ships are already scheduled to dock in Barrow, mainly for tourists to visit the Lake District, although there is no official cruise ship terminal yet. Dozens of cruise ships have visited the Port of Barrow
Port of Barrow
The Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west...
in recent years.
Shipyard
The shipyard has been given planning permission to construct a new assembly hall, dubbed 'Son of DDH' in a reference to the existing Devonshire Dock Hall
Devonshire Dock Hall
Devonshire Dock Hall is a large shipbuilding hall that forms part of the BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shipyard in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England....
shipbuilding facility. However, the building will not now be used for the construction of aircraft carrier sections as the carrier build will now take place in Glasgow. John Hutton, former MP for Barrow, has however, promised that all seven Astute Class submarines will be built at the shipyard. Following a decline in employment levels at the shipyard over the last 20 years, BAE Systems recently announced that the current workforce of 3,835 could soon grow to 5,000, although this is still only a third of the 14,000 employed in the 1980s.
Proposed bridges
A second bridge to Walney Island from mainland Barrow is planned to relieve congestion and as an aid to 24-hour access for the emergency services, most of which are based on the mainland.
For many years there have been discussions on the possible construction of bridges across 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,...
and the Duddon Estuary
Duddon Estuary
The Duddon Estuary is the sandy, gritty estuary of the River Duddon that lies between Morecambe Bay and the west Cumbrian coast.It opens into the Irish Sea to the north of the Furness peninsula; Walney Island forming part of its southern edge...
, leading to the Build Duddon and Morecambe Bridges party contesting national elections in the borough of Barrow and Furness
Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
Barrow and Furness is a parliamentary constituency in Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, receiving 409 (1.1%) votes in the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
.
Morecambe Bay Bridge
The controversial idea of a 12 miles (19 km) long road bridge connecting Barrow to the Lancashire coast across 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,...
has long been proposed. More recently the design is said to have become more 'green
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
' : if built, it would become one of the world's longest bridges and it is hoped that it might be capable of powering hundreds of thousands of home via such renewable
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources as tidal power
Tidal power
Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power - mainly electricity....
.
Duddon Estuary Bridge
A smaller bridge (some 3 km long) crossing the Duddon Estuary linking Askam and Millom
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...
would improve transport links to the area, cutting journey times from Barrow to parts of West Cumbria, but would require considerable finance. There has also been talk of building a road and rail tunnel under the Duddon instead of a bridge. There has been increased talk of this bridge since the announcement of Kirksanton on the North side of the Duddon Estuary being shortlisted as a site for a new nuclear power station.
Government
Barrow is the largest town in the Borough of Barrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-Furness (borough)
Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
and the largest settlement in the peninsula of 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....
. The borough is the direct inheritor of the municipal and county borough charters given to the town in the late 19th century. Historically it is part of the Hundred of Lonsdale
Lonsdale (hundred)
Lonsdale was a hundred of Lancashire, England. For many decades, it covered most of the northwestern part of Lancashire around Morecambe Bay, including the detached part around Furness, and the city of Lancaster....
'north of the sands' in the historic county boundaries
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...
. Since the local government reforms enacted in England in 1974 the town has been within the administrative county 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...
. It still forms a part of the Duchy of Lancaster
Duchy of Lancaster
The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch...
. The Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council
Barrow-in-Furness (borough)
Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
forms the 'lower' tier of local government under Cumbria County Council
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...
. The town, along with Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
, is unparished and forms the bulk of the wards which make the entire borough's area. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Barrow are elected annually, and hold the roles of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council. The borough and fomer county borough of Barrow-in-Furness have been served by 105 mayors, beginning with Sir James Ramsden in 1867 and continuing through to incumbent 2011 mayor Rory McClure. Between 2006 and 2011 no party held an overall majority of council seats
No overall control
Within the context of local councils of the United Kingdom, the term No Overall Control refers to a situation in which no single party achieves a majority of seats and is analogous to a hung parliament...
, but in the 2011 local election
Barrow-in-Furness Council election, 2011
The 2011 Barrow-in-Furness Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council in Cumbria, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.-Campaign:Before the election no...
, the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
gained overall control of the council.
The Barrow-in-Furness UK Parliament constituency first came into existence during the 1885 United Kingdom general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
, with David Duncan
David Duncan (UK politician)
David Duncan was a British merchant and shipper and a Liberal politician who briefly represented the seat of Barrow-in-Furness....
of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
becoming the first MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the town. In 1983, the constituency was expanded to include several commuter towns such as Dalton-in-Furness and Ulverston and was renamed Barrow and Furness
Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
Barrow and Furness is a parliamentary constituency in Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. Barrow and Furness has largely been a Labour seat since then. In the 2010 general election, John Woodcock
John Woodcock (UK politician)
John Zak Woodcock is a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness in 2010.-Early and personal life:...
was elected as MP for the constituency.
| Council/ Electoral wards of Barrow-in-Furness |
Barrow Island | Central Central Barrow Central Barrow refers to the town centre of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, North West England, UK. Central Barrow is also the name of the electoral ward that covers roughly the Eastern part of Barrow Town Centre. In 2001 5,584 lived in the Central ward, with the majority of people being White... | Hawcoat Hawcoat Hawcoat is a ward of the UK town Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, North West England.The ward is one of the few places in Barrow that has been permanently inhabited since the middle ages; Hawcoat was named and identified as Hietun in the Domesday Book. It is the most northerly ward in Barrow and in 2001... | Hindpool Hindpool Hindpool is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Barrow Island, Central Barrow, Ormsgill, Parkside and the Walney Channel, the local population stood at 5,515 in 2001. The ward covers the entire western half of the town centre and includes Barrow's... | Newbarns Newbarns Newbarns is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Hawcoat, Parkside, Risedale and Roose, the local population stood at 5,515 in 2001. Newbarns covers an area of 2.78 square kilometres and lies east of Abbey Road, and encompases Furness Abbey, Barrow... | Ormsgill Ormsgill Ormsgill is a ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Hindpool, Parkside, Hawcoat, Roanhead and the Walney Channel. The population of the ward in 2001 stood at 5,961... | Parkside Parkside, Barrow-in-Furness Parkside is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Hindpool, Ormsgill, Hawcoat, Newbarns and Risedale and had a population of 5,742 in 2001. It is one of the town's most centralised wards and contains Barrow's main park , as well as the newly... | Risedale Risedale Risedale is a ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Barrow town centre, Parkside, Newbarns and Roose and had a population of 5,663 in 2001. Risedale is a fairly deprived district, with figures for unemployment being higher than Barrow and national average... | Roose Roose Roose or Roosecote is a suburb and ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The word 'roose' is Celtic for "moor" or "heath" and the suffix 'cote' of Roosecote means "hut" or "huts"... cote | Walney North Walney North Walney North is one of two wards on Walney Island in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, North West England. The 2001 UK census showed 5,604 people were living in the area. There are two main settlement within the ward: North Scale and North Walney... | Walney South Walney South Walney South is one of two wards on Walney Island in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, North West England. The 2001 UK census showed 5,784 people were living in the area. There are two main settlements within the ward: Biggar and Vickerstown. Walney Bridge connects Walney South and, in fact, the... |
Geography
Barrow-in-Furness is situated at the tip of the FurnessFurness
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....
peninsula on the north-western edge 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,...
. The town centre and major industrial areas sit on a fairly flat coastal shelf, with a gentle incline leading away from the coast. Ten miles to the north-east is the southern boundary of the Lake District National Park
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is located in the north-west of England and is the largest of the English National Parks and the second largest in the United Kingdom. It is in the central and most-visited part of the Lake District....
.
Islands
The town is sheltered from the Irish Sea by Walney IslandWalney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
, a 14 mile (22.5 km) long island connected to the mainland by the bascule
Bascule bridge
A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
type Jubilee bridge
Walney Bridge
Walney Bridge is a bridge in Cumbria, England that connects Barrow-in-Furness on the British mainland to Walney Island.-History:...
. About 13,000 live on the isle's various settlements, mostly in Vickerstown
Vickerstown
Vickerstown is an area located on the Isle of Walney, near to the mainland town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Albeit not part of mainland Cumbria, Vickerstown is still regarded as part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness. It is an example of a planned estate built for workers by a company needing to...
, which was built to house workers in the rapidly expanding shipyard. Another significant island which lay in the Walney Channel was Barrow Island
Barrow Island (England)
Barrow Island is a built up island forming part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is counted as one of the Islands of Furness although it has not been a real island since the 1980s when part of the Devonshire Dock was filled in to provide land for the building of Devonshire Dock Hall...
, but following the filling of the channel to create land for the yard it is now directly connected to the town. Other islands which lie close to Barrow are Piel Island
Piel Island
Piel Island lies half a mile off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula in the administrative county of Cumbria, though historically within Lancashire north of the sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in Northern England...
, whose castle
Piel Castle
Piel Castle also known as Fouldry Castle, is a castle situated on the south-eastern point of Piel Island, 1 km off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula, protecting the deep water harbour of Barrow-in-Furness in north west England.....
protected the harbour from marauding Scot
Scot
A Scot is a member of an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland, derived from the Latin name of Irish raiders, the Scoti.Scot may also refer to:People with the given name Scot:* Scot Brantley , American football linebacker...
s, Sheep Island
Sheep Island (England)
Sheep Island is an uninhabited grassy island of around , located just over from the shore of Walney Island, opposite Snab Point. It is one of the Islands of Furness and is in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria in north-west England...
, Roa Island
Roa Island
Roa Island lies just over half a mile south of the village of Rampside at the southernmost point of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, though formerly in the area of Lancashire north of the sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in northern England. It has an area of about...
and Foulney Island
Foulney Island
Foulney Island is a low-lying grass and shingle area 1 mile to the south-east of Roa Island, off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, England. Foulney Island is one of the Islands of Furness in Morecambe Bay, northern England. For local government purposes the island is in the...
.
Climate
Demographics
| Population (2010 est.) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | ||||||
| 70,700 | ||||||
| of which: | ||||||
| Male Male Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization... |
34,800 | |||||
| Female Female Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male... |
35,800 | |||||
| by age: | ||||||
| 0-14 | 15-74 | 75+ | ||||
| 11,800 | 55,300 | 3,600 | ||||
Population
Barrow's population increased from the low thousands in the early 19th century to 60,000 in less than twenty years. Since the start of the 20th century the population of the town has gradually diminished to just under 60,000. The Barrow council district
Barrow-in-Furness (borough)
Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
, which includes the surrounding area, has a population of 71,980 according to the most recent census, placing it 326th out of the 376 local authorities in England and Wales (however the population density of 900 PD/km2 ranks 147th out of 376). Barrow-in-Furness can be regarded as the largest town in Cumbria, Carlisle in the north of the county having city status. It is also the 15th largest settlement in North West England and the 142nd largest in the United Kingdom. People from Barrow are known as Barrovians.
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1831 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,958 | 2,078 | 2,702 | 4,684 | 22,513 | 40,343 | 58,172 | 62,694 |
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 67,354 | 72,360 | 73,394 | 74,447 | 75,509 | 76,619 | 75,902 | 72,192 | 72,645 | 73,704 | 71,979 |
Ethnicity
2009 estimates state 95.9% of Barrow's population as indigenous White British, and ethnic minority populations in Barrow stand at 4.1%, the breakdown of which is shown in the table below. The first people to settle in what is now Barrow were the Celts and Scandinavians
Scandinavians
Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...
followed by the Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
although in the late 19th century there was mass immigration from Scotland and other parts of England. Thus the distinction between these immigrants and the previous native population is not clear from the table below. Besides a sizeable South Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
community, Barrow is also home to significant Chinese
British Chinese
British Chinese , including British-born Chinese are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in, or have migrated to, the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or overseas Chinese...
, Filipino
Filipinos in the United Kingdom
Filipinos in the United Kingdom are British citizens or immigrants who are of Filipino ancestry.-History:The United Kingdom only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. The number started to grow in the 1970s when immigration restrictions on Commonwealth citizens meant that...
, Kosovan, Polish and South African populations.
| Ethnic Group | Population | Percentage of local population |
| White British White British White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White... |
68,000 | 95.9% |
| Other White White Other (United Kingdom Census) The term Other White is used in the UK census to describe people who self-identify as white persons who are not British nor Irish. The category does not comprise a single ethnic group but is instead a method of identification for white people who are not represented by other white census categories... |
1,300 | 1.9% |
| South Asian British Asian British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom... |
600 | 0.8% |
| Mixed Race | 500 | 0.7% |
| Black Black British Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and... |
200 | 0.3% |
| Chinese British Chinese British Chinese , including British-born Chinese are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in, or have migrated to, the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or overseas Chinese... |
100 | 0.2% |
| Other | 100 | 0.2% |
Country of birth
The 2001 UK census states that 93.56% (67,345) of the borough's population was born in England, 2.86% (2,061) in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, 0.63% (451) in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, 0.68% (486) in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, 0.32% (231) in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and 0.06% (43) in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. 0.61% (441) of the town's 2001 population were born in the rest of Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
, although numbers are likely to be currently much higher, due to significant immigration from Eastern Europe (in particular Poland) to Barrow. Barrow has the eighth fastest growing non-indigenous white community of any town or city in the country, at 15.9% growth between 2004 and 2005. Barrow has also seen a huge increase with other ethnic minority groups, and the growth rate for most groups is around 2 times faster than national average. The Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n born population represented 0.50% (363) of Barrow's population, 0.35% (253) of people were born in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, 0.23% (177) of people were born in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, 0.12% (83) of people were born in Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, 0.04% (27) of Barrovians were born in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, and 0.02% (11) of people were born in some other place.
Religion
In the 2001 census 58,322 Barrovians stated themselves as being Christian. People stating no religion or chose not to state numbered 13,234 combined. The second largest religion in Barrow is Islam with a population of 182 Muslims. Other religious populations are as follows: 72 Buddhists, (nearby Conishead Priory
Kadampa Buddhist Temple
The Kadampa World Peace Temple is located at Conishead Priory on the outskirts of Ulverston, Cumbria, England. It was consecrated in July 1997 and functions as the main meditation hall at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre...
, the first Kadampa
Kadampa
The Kadampa tradition was a Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist school. Dromtönpa, a Tibetan lay master and the foremost disciple of the great Indian Buddhist Master Atisha , founded it and passed three lineages to his disciples. The Kadampa were quite famous and respected for their proper and earnest...
Buddhist centre in the west, is home to around 100 Buddhists) 46 Hindus, 25 Jews and 96 with another religion.
Other
Out of the 56,987 age 16 or over in 2001, 43.81% were married, 26.26% single, 9.57% widowed, 9.36% divorced, 8.98% re-married and 2.01% separated (but still legally married). The Total Fertility Rate of Barrow is 1.54, lower than North West England's rate (1.66) and England's (1.65).
162 Barrovians were working in the Armed Forces in 2001 Barrow has one of the highest percentages of people on benefits in the entire United Kingdom, at 23% of the working age, it is much higher than England's average of 14%.
Shipyard and port
Devonshire Dock Hall
Devonshire Dock Hall is a large shipbuilding hall that forms part of the BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shipyard in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England....
(DDH), completed by Alfred McAlpine plc
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll...
, on land that was created by infilling part of the Devonshire Dock with 2.4 million tonnes of sand pumped from nearby Roosecote Sands. DDH is the tallest building in Cumbria at 51 m. With a length of 268 m (879.3 ft), width of 51 m (167.3 ft) and an area of 25000 square metres (269,097.8 sq ft) it is the second largest shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe.
The DDH provides a controlled environment for ship and submarine assembly, and avoids the difficulties caused by building on the slope of traditional slipways. Outside the hall, a 24,300 tonne capacity shiplift allows completed vessels to be lowered into the water independently of the tide. Vessels can also be lifted out of the water and transferred to the hall. The first use of the DDH was for construction of the Vanguard-class
Vanguard class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
submarines, and later vessels of the Trafalgar-class
Trafalgar class submarine
The Trafalgar class is a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. They are a direct follow on from the Swiftsure class and were, until the introduction of the Astute class, the Royal Navy's most advanced nuclear fleet submarines.Seven boats were built and...
submarines were also built there. The shipyard is currently constructing the Astute-class submarines
Astute class submarine
The Astute-class is the latest class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. The class sets a new standard for the Royal Navy in terms of weapons load, communication facilities and stealth. The boats are being constructed by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions at...
the first of which was launched on 8 June 2007. BAE Systems is currently studying the design of a new class
British replacement of the Trident system
The British replacement of Trident is a proposal to replace the existing Vanguard class of four Trident ballistic-missile armed submarines with a new class designed to continue a nuclear deterrent after the current boats reach the end of their service lives...
of ballistic missile submarines. BAE Systems also has orders for submarine pressure domes for the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
.
BAE Systems has obtained planning permission from Barrow Borough Council for the new Central Assembly Shop dubbed 'Son of DDH' which will provide over 700 new jobs, initially in construction of a large section of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s. (hull lower block 3). Despite the large fall in numbers employed by the shipyard, Barrow retains a high proportion of workers in the manufacturing industry.
The shipyard does not build submarines exclusively: it undertook fitting out and commissioning of helicopter carrier HMS Ocean
HMS Ocean (L12)
HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship , the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force...
in the mid-1990s (although the ship was built by Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan Ltd, located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kvaerner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders corporation...
in Glasgow), and construction of Wave-class tanker Wave Knight
RFA Wave Knight (A389)
RFA Wave Knight is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world....
and Albion-class
Albion class landing platform dock
The Albion class is a class of landing platform dock, and are the newest amphibious assault vessels in the Royal Navy fleet. The class consists of two vessels, and and they were ordered in 1996 under a programme known as LPD to replace the aging Fearless class...
amphibious assault ships HMS Albion
HMS Albion (L14)
HMS Albion is a Landing Platform Dock of the Royal Navy, the first of the two-ship Albion class. Built by BAE Systems Marine in Barrow-in-Furness, Albion was launched in March 2001 by the Princess Royal...
and HMS Bulwark
HMS Bulwark (L15)
HMS Bulwark is an , the UK's newest class of amphibious assault warship and built in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. For numerous reasons, delays caused the delivery date to be put back, with the ship entering service in December 2004. Together with Albion, Ocean, and other amphibious ships, she...
.
Associated British Ports Holdings
Associated British Ports Holdings
Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade...
owns and operates the port of Barrow
Port of Barrow
The Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west...
which can berth vessels up to 200 m (656.2 ft) long and with a draught of 10 m (32.8 ft). Principal traffic includes the export of condensate by-product from the production of gas at the Rampside Gas Terminal
Rampside Gas Terminal
Rampside Gas Terminal is a gas terminal situated in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on the Irish Sea coast. It connects to gas fields in Morecambe Bay.-History:...
, wood pulp, and locally quarried limestone which is exported to Scandinavia for use in the paper industry. The port, which has deep water access, also handles the shipment of nuclear fuels and radioactive waste for BNFL
BNFL
British Nuclear Fuels Limited was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a former manufacturer and transporter of nuclear fuel , ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel , and decommissioned nuclear plants and other similar...
's nearby Sellafield
Sellafield
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
plant.
James Fisher & Sons
James Fisher & Sons
James Fisher & Sons plc is a large British provider of marine engineering services. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a former constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
plc, a service provider in all sectors of the marine industry and a specialist supplier of engineering services to the nuclear industry in the UK and abroad, was founded in Barrow in 1847 and is the largest company to have its headquarters situated in Cumbria. Annual revenue stood at almost £90 million in 2007 (up 55% from £57 million in 2006), as well as staff numbers standing at over 1,000 worldwide, with 120 of those in the Barrow headquarters.
Energy generation
Rampside Gas Terminal
Rampside Gas Terminal is a gas terminal situated in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on the Irish Sea coast. It connects to gas fields in Morecambe Bay.-History:...
in south Barrow. The complex is opperated jointly by Centrica
Centrica
Centrica plc is a multinational utility company, based in the United Kingdom but also with interests in North America. Centrica is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the UK, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names "Scottish Gas" in...
and ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
. Directly adjacent to Rampside Gas Terminal is Roosecote Power Station
Roosecote Power Station
Roosecote Power Station is a gas-fired and former coal-fired power station, situated in the Roosecote district of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, North West England. The current gas-fired station was the first CCGT power station to supply electricity to the United Kingdom's National Grid.-Coal-fired...
which was the first CCGT
Combined cycle
In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
power station to supply electricity to the United Kingdom's National Grid. Although originally coal-fired, the station is now gas-fired.
Barrow and its wider urban area form part of 'Britain's Energy Coast', and has one of the highest concentrations of wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
s in the world, the vast majority are located offshore and have been built during the early 2010s. All four of these wind farms are located off the coast of Walney Island, including the 108 turbine West Duddon Wind Farm
West Duddon wind farm
West Duddon Wind Farm also known as West of Duddon Sands wind farm is a proposed offshore wind farm to be located 14km south west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, in the Irish Sea, England. It is being developed by Morecombe Wind Ltd, a partnership between Scottish Power, Dong Energy and...
, 102 turbine Walney Wind Farm
Walney Wind Farm
Walney Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm currently under construction 14km west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, in the Irish Sea, England. It is being developed by Walney Offshore Windfarms Limited, a partnership between Dong Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy. The farm is...
, 30 turbine Barrow Offshore Wind Farm and 30 turbine Ormonde Wind Farm
Ormonde Wind Farm
The Ormonde Wind Farm is a wind farm west of Barrow-in-Furness in the Irish Sea. The wind farm covers an area of . It has a total capacity of 150 MW and is expected to produce around 500 GWh of electricity per year....
.
Sellafield
Sellafield
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
and Heysham nuclear power station are also located within 25 mi (40.2 km) of Barrow.
Tourism
Being only around 20 minutes from the Lake DistrictLake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
, Barrow has been referred to as a 'gateway to the lakes', a status which could be enhanced by the new marina complex and planned cruise ship terminal. Barrow itself has several tourist attractions, including the Dock Museum
Dock Museum
The Dock Museum is situated in the town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Its exhibits are largely based around the history of the town, heavily focusing on the shipbuilding industry at VSEL , the steelworks industry — of which Barrow once had the world's largest and the World War II bombings...
. The museum tells the history of Barrow (including the steelworks industry, shipyard and Barrow Blitz
Barrow Blitz
The Barrow Blitz is the name given to the Luftwaffe bombings of Barrow-in-Furness, England during World War II. It took place primarily during April and May 1941, although the earliest Luftwaffe bombing occurred in September 1940.-Prelude:...
), as well as offering gallery space to local artists and schoolchildren. It is built upon and around an old graving dock. Barrow also has a popular indoor market, which features a food hall as well as stalls selling clothes and other goods. Barrow has been described as the Lake District's premier shopping town, with 'big name shops mingling with small local ones', and being home to Portland Walk Shopping Centre
Portland Walk Shopping Centre
Portland Walk is a medium sized town centre shopping centre situated in Barrow-in-Furness, England, United Kingdom. The shopping centre opened in 1998, and was built on the site of former Forshaw Street...
. The town also features Hollywood Park - a leisure facility with restaurants, shops and Cumbria's largest cinema. The town also features several other retail parks (including Cornmill Crossing, Cornerhouse Retail Park, Hindpool Retail Park and Walney Road Retail Park). The Park Leisure Centre is a fitness suite with a pool, set in the 45 acres (18.2 ha) Barrow Park. Walney Island has two world renowned nature reserves (the 130 hectare South Walney Nature Reserve and 650 hectare North Walney Nature Reserve
North Walney
North Walney is a National Nature Reserve on Walney Island, England. The island is an esker. The reserve has an area of 646.5 ha and protects a sand dune system which supports a large number of Natterjack Toads....
). The historic ruins of Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness is a former monastery situated on the outskirts of the English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behind only Fountains Abbey in North...
and Piel Castle
Piel Castle
Piel Castle also known as Fouldry Castle, is a castle situated on the south-eastern point of Piel Island, 1 km off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula, protecting the deep water harbour of Barrow-in-Furness in north west England.....
, which are both managed by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, are also popular tourist destinations. South Lakes Wild Animal Park
South Lakes Wild Animal Park
South Lakes Wild Animal Park is a zoo established in 1994 by David Gill, and located in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.The park is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and bills itself as one of the best conservation zoos in the country.-History:The zoo was opened by...
is one of Europe's leading conservation zoos and has been voted Cumbria's best tourist attraction for five non-consecutive years, it is located within the borough of Barrow-in-Furness on the outskirts of Dalton.
Other
Other major employers include the NHSNational Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
, through Furness General Hospital
Furness General Hospital
Furness General Hospital is a hospital located in the Hawcoat area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.-Description and departments:...
, which employs 1,800 staff and the Kimberly Clark paper mill which has 400 employees. Amongst many retailers that have established themselves in Barrow, the furniture store Stollers
Stollers
Stollers, also known as Stollers Furniture World, is a British-based home furnishings retailer. It is located at one site, Walney Road, Barrow-in-Furness, North West England, United Kingdom...
is noted as being one of the largest shops of its kind in the UK.
Employment
Below is a list of how many people were employed by each sector (2001 UK Census), the percentage in brackets is that of the total working population of Barrow. The + or - signs at the end indicate whether the percentge employed in that sector is slightly higher +, much higher ++, slightly lower- or much lower—than England's average.- Manufacturing - 8,087 employed (28.03% of the town's working population) ++
- Retail: 4,671 (16.19%) -
- Health and Social Work: 3,635 (12.60%) ++
- Real estate, renting and business activities: 1,852 (6.42%) –
- Construction: 1,797 (6.23%) -
- Education: 1,765 (6.12%) -
- Hotels and Catering: 1,730 (6.00%) ++
- Transport Storage and Communication: 1,490 (5.16%) -
- Public Administration and Defence: 1,427 (4.95%) -
- Other: 1,179 (4.09%) -
- Finance: 471 (1.63%) –
- Electricity, Gas and Water supply: 379 (1.31%) +
- Agriculture: 252 (0.87%) -
- Fishing: 8 (0.03%) +
Transport
RoadBarrow's principal road link is the A590
A590 road
The A590 is a trunk road in southern Cumbria, in the north-west of England. It runs north-east to south-west from M6 junction 36, through the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness to terminate at Vickerstown on Walney Island. The road is a mixture of dual carriageway and single carriageway,...
, linking it to 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....
, the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
and to the M6 motorway
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
. Just north of Barrow is the southern terminus of the A595
A595 road
The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven, and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by-pass, in southern Cumbria, where it joins the A590...
, linking the town to Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Workington
Workington
Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...
and eventually Carlisle. The possibility of a bridge link over 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,...
is occasionally raised, with feasibility studies currently underway. Abbey Road is the principal road network through central Barrow, whilst Walney Bridge
Walney Bridge
Walney Bridge is a bridge in Cumbria, England that connects Barrow-in-Furness on the British mainland to Walney Island.-History:...
connects Barrow Island to Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
.
Bus
Bus services within the town are operated by Stagecoach North West
Stagecoach North West
Stagecoach North West is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Cumberland in 1987 and Ribble in 1988 from the National Bus Company. The head office of Stagecoach North West is in Carlisle...
. There is no specifically designated bus station, although many buses start and terminate their routes near the town hall. The original bus station was known for its role in a 1970s television commercial for Chewits
Chewits
Chewits is the brand name of a chewy, cuboid-shaped, soft taffy sweet manufactured by Leaf International. -History:Chewits was launched in the UK in 1965. The sweets were originally manufactured in Southport, but after the closing of the factory in 2006 manufacture was moved to Slovakia. The...
sweets before its demolition. Other services link Barrow with outlying villages as well as longer distance routes to Dalton-in-Furness
Dalton-in-Furness
Dalton-in-Furness is a small town of 8,394 people, north east of Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, England.-History:Dalton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, written as "Daltune" as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun held by Earl Tostig. Historically, it was the capital of Furness...
, 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....
and Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
.
Rail
Barrow-in-Furness railway station
Barrow-in-Furness railway station
Barrow-in-Furness railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. It is located on the Furness Line to Lancaster and the Cumbrian Coast Line to Workington and Carlisle...
provides connections to Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Workington
Workington
Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...
and Carlisle to the north, via the Cumbrian Coast Line
Cumbrian Coast Line
The Cumbrian Coast Line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands to Carnforth, where it connects with the West Coast Main...
and to 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....
, Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish by the sea – with a wide tidal range, hence the "sands" name – in Cumbria, England. Historically, Grange-over-Sands was part of the County of Lancashire until 1974, when Cumbria was created under Local Government re-organisation which absorbed the area...
and Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
to the east, via the Furness Line
Furness Line
The Furness Line, in North West England, runs from Barrow-in-Furness to Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands, connecting with the West Coast Main Line at Carnforth...
. It handles 503,800 passengers annually. Barrow has a second railway station, Roose
Roose railway station
Roose railway station is a railway station that serves the suburb of Roose, which is in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. It is located on the Furness Line to Lancaster....
, which serves the suburb of the same name.
Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey railway station
Furness Abbey railway station was a railway station on the Furness Line between Barrow-in-Furness and Carnforth, built by the Furness Railway. It served the tourist attraction of Furness Abbey and the suburbs of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria...
, Barrow's third main line station, closed in 1950. There was also a station on Barrow Island, used to enable workers at Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that merged into Vickers-Armstrongs in 1927.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
(as it was then known) to commute directly between the shipyard and nearby towns served by 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...
. This railway link was severed in 1966 when the famous cradle bridge across the docks was closed permanently for safety reasons.
Air
Barrow/Walney Island Airport operates two Beechkraft Kingair 250 aircraft which fly to various destinations every weekday, including Manchester, Bristol and Blackpool. It is owned and operated by BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
(IATA airport code
IATA airport code
An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...
: BWF, ICAO: EGNL). The longest runway is almost 4,000 feet long. It is one of two airports in the county, the other being Carlisle Lake District Airport (which alongside Barrow once served as a commercial domestic airport). The nearest international airport is Blackpool International Airport, although most people from Barrow use the larger Liverpool
Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving the city of Liverpool and the North West of England. Formerly known as Speke Airport, RAF Speke, and Liverpool Airport the airport is located within the City of Liverpool adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some southeast...
and Manchester airports.
Sea
Despite being one of the UK's leading shipbuilding centres, the Associated British Ports' Port of Barrow
Port of Barrow
The Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west...
is only a minor port. The only ferry links are between Roa Island
Roa Island
Roa Island lies just over half a mile south of the village of Rampside at the southernmost point of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, though formerly in the area of Lancashire north of the sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in northern England. It has an area of about...
and Piel Island
Piel Island
Piel Island lies half a mile off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula in the administrative county of Cumbria, though historically within Lancashire north of the sands. It is located at . It is one of the Islands of Furness in Northern England...
, but there are proposals to create a cruise ship terminal.
Sport
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C. are an English football club founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have...
are in the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
division of English football. The team, founded in 1901, are nicknamed "the Bluebirds" and play their home games at the Holker Street
Holker Street
Holker Street, also known as the Furness Building Society Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a sports stadium located in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Currently and originally used as a football ground, it has also previously been used for speedways races...
stadium. The side were members of the Football League until they were demoted in 1972. In 1990, they won the FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...
beating Leek Town
Leek Town F.C.
Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South...
3-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. Twenty years later, on 8 May 2010, Barrow
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C. are an English football club founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have...
repeated the feat, beating Stevenage Borough
Stevenage Borough F.C.
Stevenage Football Club is an English football club based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The club currently participate in League One, the third tier of English football, having won promotion from League Two in the 2010–11 season...
2-1 after extra time. Football players born in Barrow include England internationals Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Walter Hughes, OBE was an English footballer who captained both the England national team and the much-decorated Liverpool F.C. team of the 1970s.- From Blackpool to Liverpool :...
and Gary Stevens
Gary Stevens
Gary Michael Stevens is a retired English footballer who is best remembered playing in defence for a successful Everton side of the 1980s, as well as for the England national football team....
, as well as Harry Hadley
Harry Hadley
Harold Hadley was an English professional footballer and football manager. He played once for the England national side.-Playing career:...
, and Vic Metcalfe
Vic Metcalfe
Victor "Vic" Metcalfe was a professional footballer who was born in Barrow-in-Furness where his father played rugby league for Barrow. He was though a product of West Riding schools football and joined Huddersfield Town from Ravensthorpe BC as an amateur in June 1940...
.
Of current professional footballers, Wayne Curtis
Wayne Curtis
Wayne Curtis is an English football striker, currently playing for Fleetwood Town.He began his career with Holker Old Boys, and was signed by Jimmy Harvey in 1998 for Morecambe...
, Morecambe
Morecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...
striker, and Iran Under-20 and Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
winger Shana Haji both hail from the town.
Holker Old Boys F.C.
Holker Old Boys, based at Rakesmoor Lane, are the town's second most successful football team, and they play in the North West Counties Football League
North West Counties Football League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in North west of England. As of 2011, the league covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Southern Cumbria, Northern Staffordshire, the High Peak area of Derbyshire, and the far west of West Yorkshire. In the past, the...
Division One.
Barrow RLFC
Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
is a well-established sport and the town is considered as one of the game's traditional heartlands at professional and amateur levels. The professional team, Barrow Raiders
Barrow Raiders
Barrow Raiders are an English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, who are coached by Dave Clark. Formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club, the club is the oldest of the current professional sports teams in Cumbria....
, whose home games are at Craven Park
Craven Park (Barrow)
Craven Park is a rugby league stadium in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is the home of Barrow Raiders rugby league team.Craven Park was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters of Barrow RLFC, 500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground...
, play in The Championship. In the 1950s the side played in three Challenge Cup finals, winning the last of these against Workington Town
Workington Town
Workington Town is a professional rugby league club playing in Workington in West Cumbria. They play in the Championship 1. Their stadium is called Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team....
. In the 1997 reorganisation of the sport the original Barrow RLFC team merged with Carlisle Border Raiders
Carlisle RLFC
Carlisle RLFC were a rugby league team based in Carlisle, Cumbria.-Early rugby league in Carlisle:Carlisle City, based at Harraby Greyhound Stadium close to Gillford Park, were admitted to the Northern Rugby Football Union for the 1928-29 season. They withdrew on November 8, 1928 after only ten...
to form Barrow Border Raiders, with the word "border" later dropped. Players who were born in the town and played at a professional level include brothers Ade
Ade Gardner
Adrian Antonio Gardner is an English professional rugby league footballer for St. Helens of Super League. A Great Britain representative winger, he previously played for Barrow Raiders. He is the older brother of Ex-Salford City Reds winger, Mat Gardner.Gardner went to St Columba's Roman...
and Mat Gardner
Mat Gardner
Mat Gardner is a rugby league player, who currently plays for Leigh Centurions. He is the younger brother of St Helens winger Ade Gardner...
and Willie Horne
Willie Horne
Willie Horne was an English rugby league footballer. He played for Great Britain, England, Lancashire and Barrow between 1943 to 1959 and captained all four sides. He captained Great Britain in a test series against Australia in the days when Great Britain could beat the Aussies...
. The latter captained Barrow to their Challenge Cup victory and represented Great Britain at an international level. He was inducted in to the "Barrow Hall of Fame" along with former Barrow players Phil Jackson and Jimmy Lewthwaite
Jimmy Lewthwaite
Jimmy Lewthwaite was a rugby league for Great Britain, Cumberland, and Barrow.- Barrow :...
.
Motorcycle Racing
Barrow-in-Furness has staged speedway racing at three venues since the pioneer days in the late 1920s. The first track was at Holker Street. This venue had a revival for a short spell in the early-to-mid 1970s. In 1930 the sport moved to Little Park but this a somewhat hazy venue. The sport had a revival in 1978 at Park Avenue Industrial Estate but this was relatively short lived.
Golf
Barrow is home to two large golf clubs. Barrow Golf Club, founded in 1922, is situated in Hawcoat and covers some 6209 yards (5,677.5 m) with 18 holes. Furness Golf Club founded in 1872 is the sixth oldest golf club in England and is possibly the more famous of the two. It is located on Walney Island, just 50 yards (45.7 m) from the Irish Sea. It also offers an 18-hole course, a shop and other facilities.
Architecture
Barrow is one of Britain's few planned towns and has many fine buildings to show for it. There are many old and distinctive buildings in the town centre, mostly from the Victorian era, such as the town hallBarrow-in-Furness Town Hall
Barrow-in-Furness Town Hall is a Victorian-era, neo-gothic municipal building in Barrow-in-Furness, England. The building serves as the base of Barrow Borough Council and houses a number of local government departments. The building was constructed in a four year period entirely from local sandstone...
, Barrow's main public library
Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library
Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library is a Grade II listed building located at Ramsden Square, Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom, which serves as the town's main public library...
, the Nan Tait Centre
Nan Tait Centre
The Nan Tait Centre is a Grade II listed building located on Abbey Road in the Hindpool area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Designed by architects Woodhouse and Willoughby it was built for the Barrow Corporation as the town's new Technical School. The foundation stone was laid on 26 May...
, old Central Fire Station, Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, St. George's Church
St. George's Church, Barrow-in-Furness
St. George's Church is in Central ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is the oldest active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Barrow in the archdeaconry of Westmoreland and Furness . Its benefice is united with those of St Aidan, Newbarns, St Luke, Risedale, and...
, St. Mary's Church
St. Mary of Furness Roman Catholic Church
St. Mary of Furness is a Roman Catholic church located on Duke Street in Barrow-in-Furness, England. The congregation was founded in 1858, however the current building was constructed between 1866 and 1867 with £6,000 donated by Spencer Cavendish the 8th Duke of Devonshire. Designed by English...
, St. James' Church
St. James' Church, Barrow-in-Furness
St. James' Church is a large Church of England church in Barrow-in-Furness, England. It belongs to the Diocese of Carlisle which in itself forms part of the ecclesiastical Province of York. St...
and Trinity Church
Trinity Church, Barrow-in-Furness
Trinity Church is a former Presbyterian church located on School Street in Barrow-in-Furness, England. The church building was built in 1875 to accommodate the town's large Scottish Presbyterian congregation which had been meeting in the Welsh Chapel for ten years. The church closed around 100...
. There is also an increasing number of modern office buildings as well as the shipyard's cranes and construction halls which dominate much of Barrow's skyline. Barrow has 8 Grade I listed buildings, 15 Grade II* and 249 Grade II buildings.
Arts
MusicBarrow has produced several musical performers of note. They include Thomas Round
Thomas Round
Thomas Round is a retired English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas and in grand opera....
, a singer and actor in D'Oyly Carte productions of Savoy Opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
as well as Glenn Cornick
Glenn Cornick
Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was the bespectacled, first bass guitar player in the progressive rock band, Jethro Tull....
, the original bass guitarist in the rock band Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
. The father of Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
's Mick Hucknall
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
was born in Barrow before moving to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. In addition, Paul MacKenzie, bass player with 1980s Preston-based thrash metal band Xentrix
Xentrix
Xentrix were a British thrash metal band of the late 1980s/early 1990s hailing from Preston, Lancashire. Xentrix were one of the leading lights of the British Thrash movement. They had videos for their songs For Whose Advantage and their cover of Ray Parker, Jr's Ghostbusters theme. They had...
, is from Barrow. More recently, hip-hop DJ and record producer Aim
Aim (musician)
Aim is a British musician, DJ and producer, who was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Aim's sound is a blend of funky electronic music and hip hop beats, a sound which typified the Grand Central Records label...
has had considerable commercial success.
Les Muscutt, jazz banjo player and guitarist was born in Barrow in Furness in 1942. The family moved to East Ham in London where Les became a professional musician at age 15.
Shortly after the Second World War, an Old Tyme Dancing trio was formed by Wyn Large (piano), Felix Lee (piano accordion) and Reg Powell (drums). This group entertained three or more times a week at several venues in the town and surrounding districts and was very popular with those locals who enjoyed keeping Old Tyme dancing alive. Wyn Large was succeeded by Billy Steele in the 1960s after which the group became known as the Felix Lee Trio until it disbanded in the 1970s because of the increasing age of its members.
Expressive arts
Several notables in Art and Literature have come from Barrow. Artist Keith Tyson
Keith Tyson
Keith Tyson is a British artist. In 2002, he was the winner of the Turner Prize. His work is concerned with an interest in generative systems, and an embrace of the complexity and interconnectedness of existence...
, the 2002 Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
winner, was born in nearby 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....
, attended the Barrow-in-Furness College of Engineering and worked at the then VSEL shipyard. Constance Spry
Constance Spry
Constance Spry was a famous British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century.- Background :Constance Spry was born Constance Fletcher in Derby in 1886, eldest child and only daughter of George Fletcher and his wife Henrietta Maria Fletcher...
, the author and florist who revolutionised interior design in the 1930s and 40s, moved to the town with her son Anthony during World War I to work as a welfare supervisor. Peter Purves
Peter Purves
Peter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the...
, later a Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
presenter, began his acting career with 2 years as a member of the Renaissance Theatre Company at the town's Her Majesty's Theatre.
The Canteen Media & Arts Centre - known simply as "The Canteen" - and Forum Twenty Eight
Forum 28
The Forum 28 is a media and arts centre located in the British town of Barrow-in-Furness. The site is currently home to a large theatre and stage, several conference and function rooms, Barrow's main tourist information centre and a Costa Coffee outlet...
are the main venues for theatre.
Literature
In fictional works, Barrow and Vickerstown
Vickerstown
Vickerstown is an area located on the Isle of Walney, near to the mainland town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Albeit not part of mainland Cumbria, Vickerstown is still regarded as part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness. It is an example of a planned estate built for workers by a company needing to...
on Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
featured in children's show The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
, which developed into Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
, as the point where the fictional Island of Sodor
Sodor (fictional island)
Sodor is a fictional island in the Irish Sea used as the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry, and later used in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series.-Inspiration and creation:...
connected to mainland Britain and the national rail network.
The great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
wrote a poem called "Barrow-in-Furness". His "heteronym" Álvaro de Campos
Álvaro de Campos
Álvaro de Campos was one of the poet Fernando Pessoa's various heteronyms, widely known by his powerful and wraithful writing style. Campos' works may be split in three phases: the decadentist phase, the futuristic phase and the decadent phase...
lived in Barrow when he was studying ship engineering.
Media
NewspapersThere is one paid-for evening daily paper, the North West Evening Mail. There is also a weekly freesheet called the Advertiser, which is delivered to most households in the Furness area. Both are owned by independent publisher the CN Group
CN Group
The CN Group Limited is an independent local media business based in Carlisle which operates in three different media fields.The company was formerly known as the Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd but changed its name to reflect the fact that is no longer primarily a newspaper publisher...
, formerly Cumbrian Newspapers.
Radio
Barrow is served by one commercial radio station, The Bay
The Bay (radio station)
The Bay is a British radio station owned by the CN Group broadcasting from the city of Lancaster to the region of North Lancashire and the South Lakes, in North West England. It derives its name from the sand banks of Morecambe Bay, above which the main 96.9 MHz transmitter is located...
, which is broadcast from Lancaster and serves the area around 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,...
. Another commercial station, Abbey FM, ceased broadcasting in February 2009 when it went into administration. The BBC's local radio service is BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Radio Cumbria is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Cumbria and broadcasts from studios in Carlisle.- History :The county of Cumbria, from which the station takes its current name, was not created until 1974...
, who have studio facilities in the town.
Television
Barrow lies in the Granada TV – North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
region with the main signal coming from the Winter Hill
Winter Hill transmitting station
The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site situated on Winter Hill, at the southern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, and above Bolton in Greater Manchester, England...
transmitter near Bolton. There is also a relay transmitter at Millom
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...
whose signal can be received in the northern end of the town.
Various television personalities were born in the district. Dave Myers was a biker born in Barrow, before he found fame as one half of television cookery duo The Hairy Bikers
The Hairy Bikers
David Myers and Simon "Si" King , collectively known as The Hairy Bikers, are British television presenters who have fronted the series The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook, The Hairy Bikers Ride Again, The Hairy Bakers, The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain and The Hairy Bikers Mums Know...
. Karen Taylor
Karen Taylor (comedian)
Karen Taylor is an English actress and comedian. She is a former finalist in the prestigious Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award and has fronted her own sketch show on BBC Three, entitled Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor.Taylor studied Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick 1994-1998, where she got to...
is a TV comedienne best known for her BBC Three sketch show Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor
Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor
Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor is a British television sketch comedy show written and performed by BAFTA Award-winning comedian Karen Taylor and produced by Avalon Productions. The genre of the show focuses largely on sex and contains much innuendo. The title animation was created by Joanna Davidovich...
. Steve Dixon
Steve Dixon (newsreader)
Stephen Dixon is an English newsreader who currently works for Sky News, presenting the flagship programmes Sky News at Seven and Sky News at Ten every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.-Journalism career:...
is a newsreader for Sky News, while Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
was a well-known film and television scriptwriter. Peter Purves
Peter Purves
Peter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the...
, the sixth presenter of Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
also lived and worked in Barrow for a time.
Wartime diarist and local housewife Nella Last
Nella Last
Nella Last was a housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1965 making it one of the most substantial diaries held by M-O...
's memoirs were adapted for television, with parts of the town used in filming. The resulting programme, Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
, written by and starring comedienne Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
, was broadcast by ITV in 2006. It won two BAFTA
British Academy Television Awards 2007
The 2007 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 20 May at the London Palladium Theatre in London. They were broadcast live on BBC One in the UK...
awards - one for Best Single Drama, the other for Best Actress (Victoria Wood).
CITV children's show The Treacle People
The Treacle People
The Treacle People was a children's television programme shown on CITV in the United Kingdom, from 3 May 1996 to 25 July 1997. It only had two series, each with 13 episodes. The programme was short lived due to a lack of viewers. In a similar vein to other shows by the same writer, the humour...
had two villains named Barrow and Furness.
Accent
Furness is unique within Cumbria and the local accent and dialect tends to be more Lancashire-oriented. Until 1974 Furness was an exclave of Lancashire. As with Liverpool for example, the Barrovian dialect has been influenced by large numbers of settlers from various regions. Up until the mid-19th century, Barrow was nothing but a small fishing village, however as the mining, steelworks and shipbuilding industries emerged and grew, thousands came to Barrow from the likes of CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
, and Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
which were successful mining and shipbuilding centres already in existence. As Glaswegian
Glasgow patter
Glaswegian or The Glasgow Patter is a dialect spoken in and around Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to local West Mid Scots, the dialect has Highland English and Hiberno-English influences, owing to the speech of Highlanders and Irish people, who migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the...
and Geordie
Geordie
Geordie is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of the north east of England, or the name of the English-language dialect spoken by its inhabitants...
dialects mingled in Barrow numerous more migrated from Lancashire and elsewhere in England which in effect created the Barrovian dialect. In general the Barrovian dialect tends to drop certain letters (including H and T); for example holiday could be pronounced as 'oliday, with more emphasis on the letter O. Similarly the local area of Hindpool
Hindpool
Hindpool is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Barrow Island, Central Barrow, Ormsgill, Parkside and the Walney Channel, the local population stood at 5,515 in 2001. The ward covers the entire western half of the town centre and includes Barrow's...
which could be pronounced "'indpool" with emphasis on the letter I. Another example is with the letter T where twenty is often pronounced "twen'y" (again an emphasis on the letters N or Y could occur); see Cumbrian dialect
Cumbrian dialect
The Cumbrian dialect is a local English dialect spoken in Cumbria in northern England, not to be confused with the extinct Celtic language Cumbric that used to be spoken in Cumbria. As in any county, there is a gradual drift in accent towards its neighbours...
as well as Lancashire dialect
Lancashire dialect and accent
Lancashire dialect and accent refers to the vernacular speech in Lancashire, one of the counties of England. Simon Elmes' book Talking for Britain said that Lancashire dialect is now much less common than it once was, but it is not yet extinct...
for more information.
Nightlife
There are countless pubs and working men's clubs located across Barrow—Barrow has fourteen of the latter, one of the highest number per capita of any British town. There are also many bars and clubs found primarily in Barrow Town Centre on Duke StreetDuke Street, Barrow-in-Furness
Duke Street is a road running through the town centre and Hindpool area of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Stretching almost one mile from east to west it connects two major A roads as well as intersecting Abbey Road roughly midway...
and Cornwallis Street. Popular venues on Duke Street include the following bars: Jeffersons, The Lounge, Bar Cairo, Yates's
Yates's
Yates's is a pub chain, founded as Yates Wine Lodge in Oldham, in North West England by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884.-Business:There are over 70 Yates's pubs or bars in the United Kingdom however, there is no longer one in Oldham. The site of the original Yates' Wine Lodge is marked by a plaque on...
. Cornwallis Street – often dubbed the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
by locals – is currently undergoing a multi-million pound renovation with the former Martinis being the flagship renovation into Club M. Other clubs on Cornwallis Street include: Kavannas, O'Sullivans and Skint. Between 2004 and 2010 Barrow was home to one of North West England's largest nightclubs, the capacity Blue Lagoon occupied the entire hull of the former Danish ferry Princess Selandia
Princess Selandia
Princess Selandia is a former Danish ferry which had a long career on the Great Belt and the Baltic Sea, after which she became a restaurant and nightclub ship, currently moored in Barrow-in-Furness, England....
which still remains moored at Town Quay, Buccleuch Dock.
Lifestyle
In September 2008, Barrow was named as the most working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
location in the United Kingdom, based on a series of measures devised to judge the lifestyle of the people. The research was carried out by Locallife.co.uk which determined that there is a fish and chip shop
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
, working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
, bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s or trade union office
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
for every 2,917 people (Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
, Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and Preston completed the top five of 'the most working class places in Britain'). This is in direct contrast to the 1870s when a developing Barrow had more aristocrats
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
per head of the population than anywhere else in the country.
In 2007 Barrow was ranked as the 29th most deprived district in England (out of a total of 354), whilst 44% of wards within the town are in the most deprived fifth of English wards and areas.
Health
The principal hospital in Barrow is Furness General HospitalFurness General Hospital
Furness General Hospital is a hospital located in the Hawcoat area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.-Description and departments:...
which is operated by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and located on the outskirts of the town. As of July 2010 there are 12 NHS GP practices/doctors surgeries and 5 NHS dental surgeries in Barrow. The average life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
for males in Barrow is 76.0 years (compared to England average of 77.7) and 80.9 years for females (again compared to national average of 81.8). The 2001 UK Census showed that 63.12% of Barrovians were in good health, 23.63% in fairly good health and 13.25% in bad health. This compared to England's averages of 68.76%, 22.21% and 9.03% respectively show that in general people in Barrow are in a slightly worse state of health than England as a nation. A 2009 NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
in depth publication of health in Barrow indicated that, eight years later the population of Barrow despite becoming healthier is still worse off than national average. The opening statement of the publication read 'The health of people in Barrow-in-Furness is varied. Many indicators are significantly worse than the England average, including violent crime
Violent crime
A violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
and binge drinking
Binge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...
adults (an estimate). However, a number of indicators are similar to the average, such as GCSE
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
achievement and healthy eating adults (an estimate), and a fifth of indicators are significantly better than average, including physically active
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
children and adults.' One fairly alarming figure is that Barrow has the tenth worst rate of incapacity benefit
Incapacity benefit
Incapacity Benefit is a United Kingdom state benefit that is paid to those below the State Pension age who cannot work because of illness or disability and have made National Insurance contributions. It is administered by Jobcentre Plus...
claimants for mental illness in the country. The NHS also identified Barrow as having significantly worse figures than England average in the fields of deprivation
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, child poverty
Child poverty
Child poverty refers to the phenomenon of children living in poverty. This applies to children that come from poor families or orphans being raised with limited, or in some cases absent, state resources. Children that fail to meet the minimum acceptable standard of life for the nation where that...
, violent crime, breast feeding initiation, children's tooth decay
Dental caries
Dental caries, also known as tooth decay or a cavity, is an irreversible infection usually bacterial in origin that causes demineralization of the hard tissues and destruction of the organic matter of the tooth, usually by production of acid by hydrolysis of the food debris accumulated on the...
, binge drinking adults, over 65s 'not in good health', hospital stays for alcohol related harm, male and female life expectancy, deaths from smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
and early deaths from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Despite this, as stated earlier the number of physically active children and adults in Barrow is significantly better than England average, whilst the town also has much lower numbers of drug misusers
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
, diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
sufferers and road accident injuries and deaths. All other aspects of the health of Barrow's population have been stated as more or less level with nationwide average.
Education
| Nursery school Nursery school A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare... s |
13 |
| Infant school Infant school An Infant school is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom for school for children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular locality.... s |
5 |
| Junior school Junior school A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12.... s |
5 |
| Primary schools | 15 |
| Secondary school Secondary school Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place... s |
3 |
| Private school Private school Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory... s |
1 |
| College College A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations... s |
2 |
| Universities University A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education... (University of Cumbria University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a university in Cumbria, England. Its headquarters are in Carlisle. and other major campuses are at Lancaster, Ambleside and Penrith. It was established in 2007, with roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts established in 1822 and... partially sited in Barrow) |
1 |
Education in the state sector is provided by the local education authority, Cumbria County Council
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...
. There are fifteen primary schools, five infant school
Infant school
An Infant school is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom for school for children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular locality....
s, five junior school
Junior school
A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12....
s and many nurseries. Five secondary schools were created following the reorganisation of Barrow's selective tri-partite secondary education system in 1979: Parkview School
Furness Academy
Furness Academy is an independent secondary school in Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is the fourth and last academy to have been formed in the county of Cumbria after the closure of Alfred Barrow School, Parkview Community College of Technology and Thorncliffe School in 2009.-Academy...
, St. Bernard's Catholic High School
St. Bernard's Catholic High School
St. Bernard's is a Catholic High School in Furness, and is situated on Rating Lane in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It was established in 1979, when the introduction of comprehensive education in the town resulted in a merger between the former St...
, Walney School
Walney School
Walney School is a secondary school on Walney Island in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.As a result of the Education Act 1944, Walney Island needed to have its own secondary school...
, Thorncliffe School
Furness Academy
Furness Academy is an independent secondary school in Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is the fourth and last academy to have been formed in the county of Cumbria after the closure of Alfred Barrow School, Parkview Community College of Technology and Thorncliffe School in 2009.-Academy...
and Alfred Barrow School
Alfred Barrow School
The Higher Grade School building in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England is Grade II listed and has functioned as a number of educational institutions throughout its long history. From completion up until 1930 the building was occupied by the Barrow Higher Grade School.- History :The School opened...
. Three schools - Parkview, Thorncliffe and Alfred Barrow closed in August 2009 with the new Furness Academy
Furness Academy
Furness Academy is an independent secondary school in Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is the fourth and last academy to have been formed in the county of Cumbria after the closure of Alfred Barrow School, Parkview Community College of Technology and Thorncliffe School in 2009.-Academy...
opening in their place from early September 2009. In addition to publicly funded education, the town has one private school, Chetwynde
Chetwynde School
Chetwynde School is a non-selective, independent, private school, which takes boys and girls from ages 3 to 18. It includes a nursery, primary school, secondary school and sixth form. The school is situated on a site on Rating Lane in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.- History :Chetwynde was...
, which has fee-paying pupils from nursery to sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
level.
In the further education sector there are two colleges. Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College concentrates on teaching A-level subjects, while Furness College
Furness College, Barrow-in-Furness
Furness College is a college of further education in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. It provides a wide range of vocational education and training to over 16s, notably working with BAE Systems to train apprentices for their shipyard in Barrow. The college also offers evening classes for the local...
specialises in vocational courses.
The town's main library is the Central Library
Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library
Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library is a Grade II listed building located at Ramsden Square, Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom, which serves as the town's main public library...
in Ramsden Square, situated near the town centre. The library was established in 1882 in a room near the town hall, and moved to its current premises in 1922. A branch of the County Archive Service, opened in 1979 and containing many of the town's archives, is located within adjoining premises, whilst until 1991 the library also housed the Furness Museum, a forerunner of the Dock Museum. Smaller branch libraries are currently provided at Walney, Roose
Roose
Roose or Roosecote is a suburb and ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The word 'roose' is Celtic for "moor" or "heath" and the suffix 'cote' of Roosecote means "hut" or "huts"...
and Barrow Island.
See also
- Borough of Barrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-Furness (borough)Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...
- Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)Barrow and Furness is a parliamentary constituency in Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
- List of people from Barrow-in-Furness
- Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering
- BAE Systems Submarine Solutions
- List of ships and submarines built in Barrow-in-Furness
- Port of BarrowPort of BarrowThe Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west...
- Listed buildings in Barrow-in-Furness
- List of places of worship in Barrow-in-Furness