Furness Local History

🏞️ Prehistoric to Roman Period

• c. 4000–2500 BC (Neolithic) — Evidence of early farming and settlement on Walney Island and Low Furness; stone tools and cairns near Urswick and Coniston.
• c. 1000 BC (Bronze Age) — Burial cairns and stone circles appear across Furness Fells and Coniston.
• c. 1st–4th century AD (Roman) — Furness lies near the Roman road from Ravenglass to Watercrook (Kendal). Minor coastal forts and signal stations protect Morecambe Bay; possible outpost near Urswick.

⚔️ Early Medieval / Anglo-Saxon & Norse Period

• 7th century — Anglian settlers reach Low Furness; Christianity spreads via Lindisfarne and York missions.
• 9th century — Norse settlers from Ireland and the Isle of Man colonise Furness; Old Norse place-names emerge (e.g. "-thwaite", "-beck", "-ness").
• 10th century — Area loosely under the Kingdom of Strathclyde or Northumbria before incorporation into England.

🏰 Norman & Monastic Period

• 1086 (Domesday Book) — Records several Furness settlements: Roose, Hougenai (Walney), Hietun (Hawcoat). Dalton noted as the chief manor.
• 1123–1127 — Furness Abbey founded at Bekanesgill (later the Vale of Nightshade near Barrow) by Stephen, Count of Boulogne (later King Stephen). Initially Savigniac, soon Cistercian.
• 12th–13th centuries — The Abbey becomes one of England's richest monasteries; controls land across Furness, parts of Lancashire, and the Isle of Man.

⚒️ Early Modern Period

• 16th–17th centuries — Furness divided between Low Furness (agricultural) and High Furness (pastoral, woodland, mining).
• 1643–1651 — Civil War skirmishes occur near Dalton and Ulverston.
• 1660s–1700s — Ulverston expands as a market town and maritime trading port.

🚂 Industrial & Victorian Expansion

• 1839 — Henry Schneider arrives, prospecting iron ore in Low Furness.
• 1846 — Furness Railway opens between Dalton and Kirkby; later extended to Barrow and Ulverston.
• 1850s–1870s — Massive iron ore extraction at Lindal, Askam, and Stank.

⚓ 20th Century — War, Industry & Community

• 1901 — First British submarine (Holland 1) built in Barrow.
• 1914–1918 (WWI) — Furness shipyards produce Royal Navy vessels; Dalton, Ulverston support war industries.
• 1939–1945 (WWII) — Barrow and Ulverston contribute to the war effort; shipyard bombed during air raids.

🏙️ 21st Century — Modern Furness

• 1984 — Furness General Hospital opens.
• 2000s — Focus on defence (BAE Systems Submarines) and tourism in Coniston, Ulverston, and the Furness Fells.
• 2023 (1 April) — Cumbria abolished; Furness becomes part of the new Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority.