The Pressed Steel Car Company was a builder of railroad cars and equipment based in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, that was founded in 1899, and had facilities in Pittsburgh and Chicago. It operated until 1956.
86-886: The Pressed Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh came into existence 17 February 1899 and was an amalgamation of the Schoen Pressed Steel Company, Pittsburgh, and the British company, the Fox Solid Pressed Steel Company , set up in 1889 in Joliet, 30 miles southwest of Chicago. In April 1899, it had three plants: The Schoen plant at Woods Run in Allegheny, Pennsylvania; the Fox steel plant on McCandless Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and
172-592: A fairly flat coastal shelf, with hillier ground rising to the east of the town, peaking at 94 metres (310 ft) at Yarlside. Barrow sits on soils deposited during the end of the Ice Age , eroded from the mountains of the Lake District National Park , 10 miles (15 km) to the north-east. Barrow's soils are composed of glacial lake clay and glacial till , while Walney is almost entirely made up of reworked glacial morraine. Beneath these soils
258-507: A guest house and residence for its managing director, Commander Craven. 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, 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
344-413: A heavy vehicle that required considerable tractive effort from the locomotive. Pressed steel rolling stock was made from relatively lightweight flanged steel, giving it comparable strength to timber but considerable savings in dead weight. The construction technique, which used male and female dies in a hydraulic press , was very labor savings in comparison to hand-built timber cars. Fox found an ally in
430-483: A joiners' shop, a boat-building shed and a sailmaking and rigging loft. 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
516-414: A patent for his Corrugated Furnace in 1877. The Corrugated Furnace consisted of an iron (later steel) tube that was heated and swaged (later rolled) under pressure to form corrugations, increasing the surface area of the tube and thus allowing a greater energy transfer from the heat source to the boiler while also providing additional resistance to boiler pressure. James Humphreys of Barrow-in-Furness placed
602-604: A period in the late 19th century, the Barrow Hematite Steel Company -owned steelworks was the world's largest. Barrow's location and the availability of steel allowed the town to develop into a significant producer of naval vessels, a shift that was accelerated during World War I and the local yard's specialisation in submarines. The original iron- and steel-making enterprises closed down after World War II , leaving Vickers shipyard as Barrow's main industry and employer. Several Royal Navy flagships ,
688-404: A population of 67,407 according to the 2021 census. This is -0.25% less than the 2011 figure and one of only five district which saw a decline in population, although the rate of decline is much lower than the 4% reduction seen between 2001 and 2011. The Office for National Statistics states Barrow's population as being in long term decline with a projected population of around 65,000 by 2037. This
774-770: A pressing need for more tanks, and started looking for suppliers of the M3 Stuart in the United States. The British Purchasing Commission chose the Pressed Steel Car Company as one of the suppliers and placed an order for 501 M3 tanks on October 25, 1940. On July 13, 1941, the first Pressed Steel completed the first M3 Grant tank for the British. The company resumed railroad-car production after World War II, eventually diversifying into non-railway products and changing its name to U.S. Industries in 1954. In 1956, U.S. Steel purchased all remaining assets of
860-461: A second peak in of 77,900 in 1951; 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, three years after the last Furness mine shut. The by then small steelworks followed suit in 1983, leaving Barrow's shipyard as the town's principal industry. From the 1960s onwards it concentrated its efforts in submarine manufacture, and
946-541: A shop just for passenger car manufacturing in less than two years. In 1909, the Pressed Steel Car Strike of 1909 occurred, when 8,000 workers at the McKees Rocks plant went on strike. In 1914 the company manufactured 12,000 cars of differing varieties, for Russia. By 1916 it produced a new car approximately every five minutes and was the largest car plant in the United States. In early July 1936,
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#17327800676411032-542: 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
1118-463: A total of 162 turbines and have a combined nameplate capacity of 607 MW, providing energy for well over half a million homes. West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm was commissioned in 2014 while Walney was extended in 2018 to again become the world's largest such offshore facility. During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic , Barrow had the highest rate of infection of any local authority in
1204-591: A vital role in global ship and submarine construction for around 150 years. Ottoman submarine Abdül Hamid was built in the town in 1886 and became the first submarine in the world to fire a live torpedo underwater, while oil tanker British Admiral became the first British vessel to exceed 100,000 tonnes when launched in 1965. The vast majority of all current and former Royal Navy submarines were constructed in Barrow as well as numerous Royal Navy Fleet Flagships . The BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines shipyard at Barrow
1290-502: 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
1376-528: A young speculator and dealer in iron, and he discovered large 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 . The crucial and difficult link across Morecambe Bay between Ulverston and Carnforth on
1462-494: Is Sandscale Haws . Formal woodland areas within the town include Hawcoat/Ormsgill Quarry, How Tun Woods, Abbotswood , Barrow Steel Works & Slag Bank and Sowerby Wood. The 45-Acre Barrow Park is the largest and most centrally located man-made park in the town with smaller parks including Channelside Haven, Hindpool Urban Park and Vickerstown Park. There are also 25 council-owned playgrounds and 15 allotments. The Barrow council district , which included adjacent urban areas, had
1548-576: Is a sandstone bedrock, from which many of the town's older buildings are constructed. Barrow town centre is located to the north-east of the docks, with suburbs also extending to the north and east, as well as onto Walney. Barrow is the only major urban area in South Cumbria, with the nearest settlements of a similar size being Lancaster and Morecambe . Other towns nearby include Dalton-in-Furness , Askam-in-Furness , Ulverston , Millom , Grange-over-Sands , Kendal and Windermere . Most of
1634-476: Is also often jokingly referred to as being at the end of the longest cul-de-sac in the country because of its isolated location at the tip of the Furness peninsula. Barrow and the surrounding area has been settled non-continuously for several millennia with evidence of Neolithic inhabitants on Walney Island . Despite a rich history of Roman settlement across Cumbria and the discovery of related artefacts in
1720-739: Is bordered by Morecambe Bay , the Duddon Estuary and the Irish Sea . In 2021, Barrow's population was 55,489, making it the second largest urban area in Cumbria after Carlisle , and the largest in the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority. Natives of Barrow, as well as the local dialect, are known as Barrovian . In the Middle Ages , Barrow was a small hamlet within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness with Furness Abbey , now on
1806-609: Is largely a result of negative net migration although is based on historic trends thus does not take account of investment at BAE Systems and associated substantial job creation. The population within the town of Barrow itself was 55,489 as at 2021. The 2021 census states 95.7% of the former Borough of Barrow's population (I.e. Barrow, Dalton and villages) as White British , and ethnic minority populations in Barrow stood at 4.2%. Other ethnic groups in Barrow include Other White 1.4%, Asian 1.4%, Mixed Race 0.8%, Black 0.5%, Arab 0.1% and all other ethnic groups represented 0.2% of
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#17327800676411892-549: Is more likely that Scandinavian settlers simply accepted barro- as a meaningless name, and so added an explanatory Old Norse second element. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Barrow was nicknamed "the English Chicago " because of the sudden and rapid growth in its industry, economic stature and overall size. More recently the town has been dubbed the "capital of blue-collar Britain" by The Guardian , reflecting its strong working class identity. Barrow
1978-491: Is now undergoing a major expansion associated with the Dreadnought -class submarine programme. Furthermore, in 2023 it was announced that a new class of nuclear submarine, associated with the trilateral AUKUS military alliance, will be designed and principally constructed in Barrow. Today Barrow is also a hub for energy generation and handling. Offshore wind farms form one of the highest concentrations of turbines in
2064-763: Is the largest in the UK by workforce ahead of BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships in Govan . It was expanded in 1986 by construction of a new covered assembly facility, the Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH), completed by Alfred McAlpine , on land that was created by infilling part of the Devonshire Dock with 2.4 million tonnes of sand pumped from nearby Roosecote Sands. The main hall has a height of 51 m (167 ft), length of 268 m (879 ft), width of 51 m (167 ft) and an area of 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft). An extension to
2150-542: The 1885 United Kingdom general election , with David Duncan of the Liberal Party becoming the first Member of Parliament (MP) for the town. The seat was won by the Conservative Party in 1892 , before being won for the first time by Labour in 1906 . In the subsequent 40 years the seat swung between Conservative and Labour, but since 1945 it has been generally considered a Labour safe seat. In 1983,
2236-759: The 2017 Cumbria County election . Until 2023 the town, along with Walney Island , was unparished and formed the bulk of the wards which made the entire borough's area. The mayor and deputy mayor of Barrow were elected annually, and held the roles of chairman and vice-chairman of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council. The borough and former county borough of Barrow-in-Furness were served by 107 mayors, beginning with Sir James Ramsden in 1867 and continuing through to incumbent 2022 mayor Helen Wall. Barrow Island | Central | Hawcoat | Hindpool | Newbarns | Ormsgill | Parkside | Risedale | Roosecote | Walney North | Walney South On 1 April 2023, both Barrow Borough Council and Cumbria County Council ceased to exist when
2322-476: The Irish Sea . Walney Island , surrounds the peninsula's Irish Sea coast and is separated from Barrow by the narrow Walney Channel . Both Morecambe Bay and the Duddon Estuary are characterized by large areas of quicksand and fast-moving tidal bores . Areas of sand dunes exist on coasts surrounding Barrow, particularly at Roanhead and North Walney . The town centre and major industrial areas sit on
2408-559: The Union Pacific Railroad , was made general manager. By 1893 the works employed 400 men producing 80 tramcars and freight cars per day. A larger plant was built in Pittsburgh in 1896. In 1899 Fox sold his American operation to rival Charles T. Schoen, who went on to form the Pressed Steel Car Company . The company stayed in business until it was purchased in 1923 by Cammell Laird , which closed
2494-462: The VSEL management of detailed plans for Barrow's industrial renewal in the mid-to-late 1980s remains controversial. This has led to renewed academic attention in recent years to the possibilities of converting military-industrial production in declining shipbuilding areas to the offshore renewable energy sector. In a 2002 outbreak of legionellosis in the town, 172 people were reported to have caught
2580-686: The Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria , England. Historically in Lancashire , it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness . The borough was merged into the new Westmorland and Furness district in 2023. At the tip of the Furness peninsula , close to the Lake District , it
2666-518: The 1850s: Population of the Parish of Dalton-in-Furness 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. 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. By
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2752-414: The 2021 census, 98.4% of Barrovians spoke English as a main language, with Tagalog , the various Chinese dialects and Polish prevailing as the second, third and fourth most common main languages (0.3%, 0.2% and 0.2% of the population respectively). The Tagalog-speaking population represents the second highest of any district in northern England by percentage of the population. In the 2021 census 53.1% of
2838-614: The Armley works in 1929. Leeds Forge successfully sued R.H.Clayton & Sons Ltd over patent infringement for an improved boiler flue. In 1924 the Leeds Forge Company built 50 electric carriages for the New South Wales Government Railways , Australia. The bodies were shipped to Sydney in knocked-down form and assembled at Eveleigh Railway Workshops and Clyde Engineering . They were
2924-487: The Barrow Shipbuilding Company was incorporated. Barrow's relative isolation from the United Kingdom's industrial heartlands meant that the newly formed 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
3010-484: The Barrow area, no buildings or structures have been found to support the idea of a functioning Roman community on the Furness peninsula. The Furness Hoard discovery of Viking silver coins and other artefacts in 2011 provided significant archaeological evidence of Norse settlement in the early 9th century. Several areas of Barrow including Yarlside and Ormsgill , as well as "Barrow" and "Furness", have names of Old Norse origin. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded
3096-435: The Barrow to Ulverston Coast Road. Historically Barrow was home to a notable Ashkenazi Jewish community that peaked in size during the 1930s with a synagogue in the town. Nonetheless, it closed in 1974 and less than 20 Jews were recorded by the 2021 census. Historically Barrow's economy was dominated by the manufacturing sector, with the Barrow Hematite Steel Company and Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering being amongst
3182-462: The Borough of Barrow's population stated themselves as being Christian. People stating no religion or chose not to state totalled 45.5% combined. Other religious groups represented 1.4% of the population, with Islam and Buddhism prevailing as the first and second most common groups. Conishead Priory, the first Kadampa Buddhist centre in the west, is home to around 100 Buddhists and is located off
3268-573: The Fox steel plant in Joliet, Illinois. Approximately one month after forming, a deal was announced that the Pressed Steel Car Company would purchase all of its steel from the Carnegie Steel Company , and Carnegie would stop making cars. At first the company only produced freight cars, but in 1903 it delivered 35 steel underframe passenger cars to the North Western Elevated Railway of Chicago, and then set up
3354-618: 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
3440-537: 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 . The end of the Cold War in 1991 marked a reduction in the demand for military ships and submarines, and
3526-435: The United Kingdom. This was attributed to various socio-economic factors and a high level of testing also seen in the neighbouring authorities of South Lakeland and Lancaster. Rates fluctuated throughout the year and towards the end of 2020 infection rates were amongst the lowest in country. From the mid 2010's to present, significant investment has taken place at BAE Systems' shipyard in Barrow with an expansion to accommodate
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3612-609: The abbey's foundation the monks discovered iron ore deposits, later to provide the basis for the Furness economy. These thin strata, close to the surface, were extracted through open cut workings, which were then smelted by the monks. 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. The monks of Furness Abbey constructed
3698-495: 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 . Besides the dozens of civilians killed during World War II, some 268 Barrovian men were also killed whilst in combat. Barrow's population reached
3784-412: The centre of Barrow to be transported by sea. 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
3870-465: The channel separating the village from Walney Island. Amongst the oldest buildings in Barrow are several cottages and farmhouses in Newbarns 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. In 1839 Henry Schneider arrived as
3956-423: The company filed for bankruptcy due to decreased earnings, debt and the inability to sell funding stock. On July 24, 1936, it was incorporated as the Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc. As of May 17, 1938, it employed 2,000 employees, as well as 1, 225 employees in subsidiary companies. Pressed Steel Car Company ranked 41st among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. It
4042-619: The company. Leeds Forge Company#Pressed Steel Railway Vehicles The Leeds Forge Company manufactured corrugated furnaces for marine steam engine boilers and pressed steel railway rolling stock. The company was founded by Samson Fox , who was born in 1838 in Bradford , Yorkshire. Samson apprenticed with Smith, Beacock and Tannett of Victoria Foundry, Leeds, succeeded Fenton, Murray and Jackson , builders of rail locomotives. While at Smith, Beacock and Tannett, Fox became their travelling representative. During this time he
4128-522: The constituency was expanded to include several commuter towns such as Dalton-in-Furness and Ulverston and was renamed Barrow and Furness . It was subsequently won by the Conservatives, with the victory attributed to Labour's stance against the nuclear-powered submarines that were being constructed in Barrow. Following a change in Labour policy the party won Barrow and Furness in 1992. John Woodcock
4214-524: 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 ,
4300-419: The council for its health and safety failings. In 2006, council employee Gillian Beckingham and employer Barrow Borough Council were cleared of seven charges of manslaughter . Beckingham, the council senior architect was fined £15,000 and the authority £125,000. Following the trials the contractor responsible for maintaining the plant settled a £1.5 million claim by the council for damages. The borough council
4386-582: The design of a new class of ballistic missile submarines. BAE Systems also has orders for submarine pressure domes for the Spanish Navy . The shipyard has been awarded contracts for the construction of submarines which will carry nuclear missiles in a successor programme to the current Vanguard class containing the Trident system . BAE Systems is investing £300 million in Barrow's shipyard to construct buildings capable of manufacturing and assembling
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#17327800676414472-404: The disease, of whom seven died. This made it the fourth worst outbreak in the world in terms of number of cases and sixth worst in terms of deaths. The source of the bacteria was later found to be steam from a badly maintained air conditioning unit in the council-run arts centre Forum 28 . At the conclusion of the inquest into the seven deaths, the coroner for Furness and South Cumbria criticised
4558-539: The districts of Barrow, Eden and South Lakeland merged to form Westmorland and Furness . A civil parish was formed named just "Barrow" from the unparished area. At the same time, ward boundaries within Barrow were redrawn, combining previously independent wards. These include: 'Old Barrow' (comprising the existing Barrow Island, Central and Hindpool wards), Hawcoat and Newbarns, Ormsgill and Parkside, Risedale and Roosecote and Walney Island. The Barrow-in-Furness UK Parliament constituency first came into existence during
4644-455: The filling of the channel to create land for the shipyard it is now directly connected to the town. Other islands which lie close to Barrow are Piel Island , whose castle protected the harbour from marauding Scots , Sheep Island , Roa Island and Foulney Island . There are numerous natural and managed public parks and open spaces within Barrow. Walney North and South Nature Reserves are protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, as
4730-504: The first all-steel carriages in Australia. In 1922 they supplied new all steel sleeping cars for the blue trains operating from Calais to French Riviera. In 1928 Leeds Forge manufactured three Bo-Bo electric hopper cars on behalf of English Electric . They were supplied to British Portland Cement , Greenhithe , Kent. Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just " Barrow ") in
4816-419: The first mayor of Barrow, which was given municipal borough status in 1867, and county borough status in 1889. The imposing red sandstone town hall , designed by W.H. Lynn, was built in a neo-gothic style in 1887. 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
4902-519: The hall in the late 2010s has taken the total area to over 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft), retaining its place as one of the largest shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe. The DDH provides a controlled environment for ship and submarine assembly, and avoids the difficulties caused by building on the slope of traditional slipways. Outside the hall, a 24,300 tonne capacity shiplift allows completed vessels to be lowered into
4988-611: The initial order for six furnaces of 3 ft 1 in (0.9 m) diameter and 7 ft 6 in (2.3 m) long. The next year Fox succeeded in obtaining an order for two American ships and had secured U.S. patents by 1880. The German company Schulz, Knaudt of Essen began Licensed production of the Corrugated Furnace that same year. Leeds Forge rejected license applications from other companies including Taylor Bros, Clarence Ironworks, Leeds and John Brown & Company , Atlas Works, Sheffield . In 18982 Fox introduced
5074-680: 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. 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
5160-484: The most important global companies in their respective fields during the 20th century. In the present day, manufacturing remains the largest employment sector in the town. BAE Systems is the single largest employer with around 12,000 employees as at 2024, anticipated to increase by a further 5,000. However, like most of the UK, employment trends have greatly diversified since the 20th century and there are no other predominant employment sectors in Barrow. Barrow has played
5246-502: The munitions factory and shipyard, with the town's population reaching to an estimated peak of around 82,000 during the War. Thousands of local men fought abroad during World War I, 616 were ultimately killed in action. During World War II, Barrow was a target for the German air force looking to disable the town's shipbuilding capabilities (see Barrow Blitz ). The town suffered the most in
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#17327800676415332-451: The new Dreadnought -class programme. Further to this, commitments associated with the AUKUS submarine programme will safeguard the shipyard's long-term future. Significant investment in renewable energy is also taking place with emerging proposals to repurpose Rampside Gas Terminals to facilitate the storage of carbon in the depleted Morecambe gas fields. In 2023 media reported that Barrow
5418-405: The outskirts of the town, controlling the local economy before its dissolution in 1537. The iron prospector Henry Schneider arrived in Furness in 1839 and, with other investors, opened the Furness Railway in 1846 to transport iron ore and slate from local mines to the coast. Further hematite deposits were discovered, of sufficient size to develop factories for smelting and exporting steel. For
5504-517: The parish was abolished and became an unparished area . It still forms a part of the Duchy of Lancaster . The Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council formed the 'lower' tier of local government under Cumbria County Council . Since the 2011 local election , the Labour Party has had overall control of the borough council, while the Borough elected six Labour and five Conservative Party councillors at
5590-563: The population. The first people to settle in what is now Barrow were the Celts and Scandinavians followed by the Cornish . Most Barrovians however are descended from migrants from Scotland , Ireland and other parts of England who arrived from the late 19th century onwards. Barrow's Chinese connections were the subject of a documentary on Chinese state television in 2014. The programme covered diplomat Li Hongzhang 's fact finding mission to
5676-633: The promotion of his pressed steel vehicles in E R Calthrop , who promoted pressed steel rolling stock for his system of narrow gauge railways, and used them on the Barsi Light Railway . The United States showed much more interested in pressed steel cars so in 1889 the Fox Solid Pressed Steel company was established in Joliet, Illinois , 40 miles (64 km) south-west of Chicago. Clem Hackney, who had previously worked for
5762-486: The rolling process which led to the commercial success of the furnace, which were routinely fitted to ships both in the United Kingdom and United States. After the success of the corrugated furnace, Fox turned his attention to other products, and in 1887 exhibited in Newcastle his flanged frame plate for railway rolling stock . Traditional rolling stock was built of timber frames with a timber superstructure, producing
5848-610: The settlements of Hietun, Rosse and Hougenai, which are now the districts of Hawcoat , Roose and Walney respectively. In the Middle Ages the Furness peninsula was controlled by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary of Furness, known as Furness Abbey . This was in the "Vale of Nightshade", now on the outskirts of the town. Founded for the Savigniac order , it was built on the orders of King Stephen in 1123. Soon after
5934-479: The town continued its decline. The shipyard's dependency on military contracts at the expense of civilian and commercial engineering and shipbuilding meant it was particularly hard hit as government defence spending was reduced dramatically. As a result, the workforce shrank from 14,500 in 1990 to 5,800 in February 1995, with overall unemployment in the town rising over that period from 4.6% to 10%. The rejection by
6020-595: The town is sheltered from the Irish Sea by Walney Island , a 14 mile (22.5 km) long island connected to the mainland by the bascule type Jubilee bridge . About 13,000 live on the isle's various settlements, mostly in Vickerstown , which was built to house workers in the rapidly expanding shipyard. Another significant island which lay in the Walney Channel was Barrow Island , but following
6106-424: The town was in the borough of Barrow-in-Furness , which had directly inherited the municipal and county borough charters given to the town in the late 19th century. Historically it is part of the hundred of Lonsdale 'north of the sands' in the historic county boundaries of Lancashire . From the 1974 local government reforms until 2023, the town was within the administrative county of Cumbria . On 1 April 1974
6192-488: The town's steelworks and shipyard in 1896 as well as the 2012 discovery of a hoard of Chinese coins discovered in Barrow dated around a similar time that have been suggested as having been brought over by sailors or labourers. The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding is a charity with a branch based in Barrow that aims to develop relations with the British Chinese community and the general British population. It
6278-534: The turn of the 20th century, the Scottish-born population had increased to form the highest portion anywhere in England. Other notable immigrant groups included Cornish people who represented 80% of the district of Roose's population at the time of the 1881 census. In an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy James Ramsden founded the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company in 1870 and the Barrow Jute Works
6364-535: The vast majority of its nuclear submarines as well as numerous other naval vessels, ocean liners and oil tankers have been manufactured at the facility. The end of the Cold War and subsequent decrease in military spending saw high unemployment in the town through lack of contracts; despite this, the BAE Systems shipyard remains operational as the UK's largest by workforce (12,000 employees in 2024) and
6450-626: The water independently of the tide. Vessels can also be lifted out of the water and transferred to the hall. The first use of the DDH was for construction of the Vanguard -class submarines, and later vessels of the Trafalgar class were also built there. The shipyard is currently constructing the Astute -class submarines, the first of which was launched on 8 June 2007. BAE Systems is currently studying
6536-478: The world, including the second largest offshore farm , with multiple operating bases in Barrow. The name was originally that of an island, Barrai, which can be traced back to 1190. This was later renamed Old Barrow, recorded as Oldebarrey in 1537, and Old Barrow Insula and Barrohead in 1577. The island was then joined to the mainland and the town took its name. The name itself seems to mean "island with promontory", combining British barro- and Old Norse ey , but it
6622-610: The world. 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 the 7th Duke of Devonshire and 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
6708-487: Was "torn apart" by false grooming gang allegations , with public demonstrations targeting the local newspaper , the Asian community and police. The scandal was the subject of the 2024 BBC documentary Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal and the perpetrator Eleanor Williams was duly convicted and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. Barrow is the largest town in the district of Westmorland and Furness . Previously
6794-548: Was acquainted with Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock , who were major shipbuilders on the Firth of Clyde . Scotts provided a large amount of the capital needed to establish the Leeds Forge at Castleton Field, Armley , Leeds in 1874, initially producing straight and cranked locomotive axles. The Leeds Forge Company started out making locomotive crank pins and axles, using hammer forging. Fox registered
6880-638: Was established in 1975 and publishes the quarterly China Eye magazine. In 2021 93.0% of the borough's population was born in England, 2.3% in Scotland , 0.5% in Wales and 0.4% in Northern Ireland . 3.8% of the town's 2021 population were born elsewhere in the world. The five most common foreign countries of birth were the Philippines , India , Nigeria , Germany and Poland . According to
6966-452: Was involved in the design and production of 24 M43 howitzer motor carriages and 311 M40 gun motor carriages ., T29 Heavy Tanks , T30 Ammunition Carriers, M7 Gun Motor Carriages , M3 Light Tanks (501,) M4 Medium Tanks (1000) along with its variants totaling in over 8600 in M4 series - M4A1 (3700,) M4A2 (21,) improved M4A1 (3396,) M32 Tank Recovery Vehicles (over 900.) In May 1940, Britain had
7052-612: 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 . 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
7138-527: 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. It also commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design Abbey House as
7224-461: Was the MP for the constituency between the 2010 and 2019 general election , when Conservative Simon Fell succeeded as MP for the Borough. In the 2024 General Election , Labour candidate Michelle Scrogham became MP for Barrow and Furness, with 18,537 votes. Barrow is situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula on the north-western edge of Morecambe Bay , south of the Duddon Estuary and east of
7310-472: Was the first public body in the country to face corporate manslaughter charges. 2006 saw the construction of Barrow Offshore Wind Farm , which has acted as a catalyst for further investment in offshore renewable energy . Ormonde Wind Farm and Walney Wind Farm followed in 2011, the latter of which became the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The three wind farms are located west of Walney Island and are operated primarily by Ørsted (company) , contain
7396-463: Was used for shipbuilding, and derived products such as rails were also exported from the newly built docks. Barrow's population grew rapidly. Population figures for the town itself were not collected until 1871, though sources suggest that Barrow's population was still as low as 700 in 1851. 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
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