pdf-zusammengefasst

Barrow's shipyard circa. 1890
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. [24]
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, [25] which was given municipal borough
status in 1867, and county borough status in 1889. [26] The imposing red sandstone town hall, designed by W.H. Lynn, was built in a neo-gothic style in
1887. [27] 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. [28] It also commissioned Sir
Edwin Lutyens to design Abbey House as a guest house and residence for its managing director,
Commander Craven. [29]
20th century
Map of Barrow dated 1890 showing
no development on Walney Island
and little north of the Furness Line
Abbey House was commissioned by
Vickers and designed by Sir Edwin
Lutyens
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 1, was built in 1901, [30] 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 airships and airship
hangars during the early 20th century. Originally constructed in a large shed at Cavendish Dock,
production later relocated to Barrow/Walney Island Airport. HMA No. 1, nicknamed the Mayfly is the
most notable airship to have been built in Barrow. The first of its kind in the UK it came to an untimely
end on 24 September 1911 when it was wrecked by wind during trials. Well-known ships built in Barrow
include Mikasa, the Japanese flagship during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the liner SS Oriana and the
aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMAS Melbourne. It should also be noted that there was a significant
presence of Vickers' armament division in Barrow with the huge Heavy Engineering Workshop on
Michaelson Road supplying ammunition for the British Army and Royal Navy throughout both world
wars. World War 1 brought significant temporary migration as workers arrived to work in the munitions
factory and shipyard, with the town's population reaching to an estimated peak of around 82,000 during
the War. [19] Thousands of local men fought abroad during World War I, 616 were ultimately killed in
action. [31]
Cornmill Crossing in 1895 (a former
goods-depot on the Furness
Railway), a retail park now exists on
the site
During World War II, Barrow was a target for the German air force looking to disable the town's
shipbuilding capabilities (see Barrow Blitz). [32] 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
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. [33] Besides the dozens of civilians killed during
World War II, some 268 Barrovian men were also killed whilst in combat. [31]
Barrow's population reached a second peak in of 77,900 in 1951, [34] however by this point the long decline of mining and steel-making as a result of
overseas competition and dwindling resources had already begun. The Barrow ironworks closed in 1963, [35] three years after the last Furness mine shut.
The by then small steelworks followed suit in 1983, [36] 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, Trafalgar and Vanguard-class submarines all followed. The last of these are armed with Trident II missiles as part of the British government's
Trident nuclear programme.