Furness
The Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, which developed when the Furness iron industry flourished in the 19th century, is the region's largest settlement, with a population of over 91,000.
The mere forms most of the eastern boundary, with the rest being made up of the Leven, from its source at Windermere's southern tip to its mouth at Morecambe Bay.
[7] The Furness Fells are formed of Ordovician volcanic rocks, and Silurian shales and slates to the south.
[8] They are cut through by Windermere, Coniston Water, and numerous valleys which drain into the Esk, the Duddon, and Morecambe Bay.
[9] A lesser range extends from Torver to just north of Dalton, but south of that the landscape is flat; this area is also called Plain Furness.
[10] Barrow, which grew from a small village to a large town during the 19th century, is characterized by a grid pattern of streets of terraced houses,[11] surrounded by more contemporary suburbs.
Mining was once a major part of the local economy, but today only the Burlington Slate Quarries at Kirkby remain of note.
[5] Scandinavians probably formed the majority of the Furness population, and Old Norse remained a living language in the region until at least the late 12th century.
[5] Before the Conquest, Furness, assessed to contain 82 ploughlands, was part of the Manor of Hougun, held by Tostig, Earl of Northumbria.
The area had been raided by Scots in 1316 and again in 1322,[9] though in the latter year the abbot paid Robert the Bruce a ransom to stop his men harrying Low Furness.
[14] The abbey was closed in 1536 after the monks lent their support to the Pilgrimage of Grace, and the abbot's lands were seized by the crown, becoming part of the royal duchy of Lancaster.
In 1644 the Royalists remained in control of Furness, though the country folk were hostile to them, and Parliament ships landed at Piel Island to aid in a rising.
At the same time, tourism in the Lake District increased, popularised in part by the work of John Ruskin and William Wordsworth.
Shipbuilding later replaced iron and steel as Low Furness's main industry, and Barrow's shipyards became the largest in England.
During the wars this allowed Furness to escape many of the economic problems that other areas suffered, due to the constant work provided by the military.
After World War II demand for ships and submarines remained high, while the development of the Lake District National Park further fostered tourism.
Attractions such as the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, steamers on Windermere and Coniston Water, and fell walking, caused parts of Furness to become dependent on the tourist trade.
Transport has become an increasingly controversial issue, with conservation groups and local business clashing over the need for improvements to the A590 trunk road, the main link to the M6 Motorway.
