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to the surface, were extracted through open cut workings, [11] which were then smelted by the monks. [12]
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. [13] The monks of Furness Abbey constructed a wooden tower on nearby Piel Island in 1212
which acted as their main trading point; it was twice invaded by the Scots, in 1316 and 1322. In 1327 King
Edward III gave Furness Abbey a licence to crenellate the tower, and a motte-and-bailey castle was built.
However Barrow itself was just a hamlet in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, 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 farmhouses in
Newbarns (now a ward of the borough) which date back to the early 17th century; as well as Rampside
Hall, a Grade I listed building and the best-preserved in the town from the 1600s. Even as late as 1843
there were still only 32 dwellings, including two pubs. [14]
Furness Abbey, one of England's
most powerful monasteries in the
Middle Ages
19th century
In 1839 Henry Schneider arrived as a young speculator and dealer in iron, and he discovered lar ge 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 and Askam and Ireleth to a deep-water harbour near Roa Island. [15] 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. [16][17]
Barrow Steelworks circa. 1877
transported by sea.
The docks built between 1863 and 1881 in the more sheltered channel between the mainland and Barrow
Island replaced the port at Roa Island. The first dock to open was Devonshire Dock in 1867, and Prime
Minister William Ewart Gladstone stated his belief that "Barrow would become another Liverpool". The
increasing quantities of iron ore mined in Furness were then brought into the centre of Barrow to be
The investors in the burgeoning mining and railway industries decided that greater profits could be made
by smelting the iron ore and converting the resultant pig-iron into steel, and then exporting the finished
product. Schneider and James Ramsden, the railway's general manager, erected blast furnaces at Barrow
that by 1876 formed the largest steelworks in the world. [18] Its success was a result of the availability of
local iron ore and coal from the Cumberland mines and easy rail and sea transport. The Furness Railway,
which counted local aristocrats William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshireand 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. [15]
Painting of the Barrow Jute Works in
1875
Barrow's population grew rapidly. Population figures for the town itself were not collected until 1871, [19] though sources suggest that Barrow's population
was still as low as 700 in 1851. [20] During the first half of the 19th century, Barrow formed part of the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, the population of which
shows some of Barrow's early growth from the 1850s:
Population of the Parish of Dalton-in-Furness [19]
Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861
Population 1,954 2,074 2,446 2,697 3,231 4,683 9,152
In 1871 Barrow's population was recorded at 18,584 and in 1881 at 47,259, less than forty years after the railway was built. [19] The majority of migrants
originated from elsewhere in Lancashire although significant numbers settled in Barrow from Ireland and Scotland, which represented 11% and 7% of the
local population in the 1890s. [21][22] By the turn of the 20th century, the Scottish-born population had increased to form the highest portion anywhere in
England. In an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy James Ramsden founded the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company in 1870 and the Barrow Jute Works
was soon constructed alongside the Furness Railway line in Hindpool. The mill employed 2,000 women at its peak and was awarded a gold medal for its
produce at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle. [23]
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