The Begining

Barrow Island has a very active history from having a small pox hospital,timber yards, Devonshire and Buccluech docks to a good few years later Cavendish dock and Ramsden dock.

Education came to Barrow Island around 1873 then the catholic school in 1877,the Barrow Island girls school in 1904. The nursery and Cambridge St. infants opened 29th January 1940. Over the century`s Barrow Island had a mansion(Michealson house)which was pulled down to make way for a howetzer gun station during the second world war around 1941.

Before the first world war there was a famine in Barrow the then curate of St James Church with some business men provided a soup kitchen but barrow island was not part of this as far as i can see in the records.

A further report shows kids from the island waiting outside the yard asking the dockers for any bread or food that they have left the dockers where only too happy to give what they had left. Further along you can see that Barrow Island became a community in it`s self very reliable with it`s own shop`s public houses and for the time a pawn shop.

Most of the people who live here love the place and the community for what it is but most importantly they grow with it. There was also a boat service from Barrow to New York which didn`t last an especially long time and also to the Isle of Man and Fleetwood.

Most of the Furness residents dont know the history behind the island even though it`s a colourful one maybe this page will give an insight into the working life of Barrow Island.

Next Page