Furness Abbey railway station

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Furness Abbey
Booking Office and Refreshment Room, Furness Abbey Station, now 'Abbey Tavern'.jpg
The Booking Office and Refreshment Room around 1890
General information
Location Barrow in Furness
England
Grid reference SD 218 719
Platforms3 (plus one private for Sir James Ramsden/Abbotswood)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Furness Railway
Pre-grouping Furness Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
24 August 1846 (1846-08-24)Opened
25 September 1950Closed [1]
1950Demolished

Furness Abbey railway station was located in the Barrow-in-Furness area of the Furness Peninsula, England. It opened in 1846, closed in 1950 and was subsequently demolished.

Contents

History

The Furness Railway was authorised in 1844 to build a line which would link Kirkby-in-Furness with Dalton-in-Furness. The railway was extended in places and subsequently took over the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway and the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway.

The station at Furness Abbey was opened in 1846 and was substantially enlarged by 1862 to receive passengers from further afield once it was directly connected to the London and North Western Railway. The station, one of the company's finest, was linked to the Furness Abbey Hotel which was also owned by the Furness Railway Company and was created to capitalise on the tourist trade. [2] The station also served Abbotswood, the home of Sir James Ramsden, Managing Director of the railway company, and other large houses at the semi-rural north end of Barrow-in-Furness.

In the 1923 consolidation of British railway companies, the station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. It subsequently became part of British Railways after the 1948 nationalisation.

Having been damaged by German bombing in May 1941 (when the Furness Abbey Hotel was also hit), the station was closed by British Railways shortly after nationalisation and was subsequently demolished in the early 1950s along with the hotel. Apart from some old track-bed and demolition debris associated with Sir James Ramsden's private siding, the only surviving part of the station is the former ticket office/refreshment room, which became the Abbey Tavern. Since 1976 this has been recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. [3] The tavern has been closed for many years and is semi-derelict but in 2023 it was reported to have been sold. [4]

Services

Services stopped at Furness Abbey to allow passengers to visit the Abbey and to use the Furness Abbey Hotel. All services north of Barrow initially had to travel to Furness Abbey and then reverse back towards Dalton before continuing on to Askam. This practice ceased in 1882, when a loop line to the new central Barrow-in-Furness station on Abbey Road was completed and trains could continue from there northwards to Askam without reversing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furness Abbey Hotel</span>

The Furness Abbey Hotel was demolished in 1953, having been bombed in May 1941. Its site now forms the car park to Furness Abbey and the museum. The station at Furness Abbey also suffered bomb damage and was demolished in the early 1950s. The original station booking office and refreshment room, built in 1862, which had been attached to the hotel, survives as The Abbey Tavern, standing in Abbey Approach, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, to the north of the remains of Furness Abbey. The current structure is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

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The Barrow Jute Works was a jute and flax mill located in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The mill was built for the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company which was founded by James Ramsden in 1870 in an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy which was heavily focused on iron and steel production. The Jute Works itself was designed by architects Paley and Austin and occupied over 12-acres with a 580 feet (177 m) facade on Hindpool Road and 360 feet (110 m) along Abbey Road. The mill was served by its own railway station on a branch of the Furness Railway which connected it to the town's docks, steelworks and cornmill.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island Road railway station</span> Disused railway station in Cumbria, England

Island Road railway station was a railway station at the centre of Barrow Island, Barrow-in-Furness, England which operated between 1899 and 1967. It was built by the Furness Railway near the junction of the Ramsden Branch Line and a line which ran through the industrial areas of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piel railway station</span> Disused railway station in Cumbria, England

Piel railway station was the terminus of the Furness Railway's Piel Branch in Barrow-in-Furness, England that operated between 1846 and 1936. Located on Roa Island it was built to serve the passenger steamers at Piel Pier. The Roa Island causeway was specifically constructed for the railway, in turn making the island part of the British mainland. The station and the Piel Branch line have both been demolished, however the Roa Island Hotel which was built adjoining the station survives to this day as a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 189. OCLC   931112387.
  2. Furness Abbey Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness Civic and Local History Society, retrieved 21 December 2024
  3. Historic England. "The Abbey Tavern, Barrow-in-Furness (1025255)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  4. Whiteker, Alec (17 December 2023). "Barrow's Grade II listed Abbey Tavern sold". The Mail. North West Evening Mail. Retrieved 21 December 2024.

Bibliography

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Dalton
Line and station open
  Furness Railway   Roose
Line and station open
Dalton
Line and station open
 Furness Railway  Rampside
Line and station closed

54°8′14.7″N3°11′51.6″W / 54.137417°N 3.197667°W / 54.137417; -3.197667