78-773: The A584 is a road in Lancashire , England, that runs from Clifton , near Preston , to Little Bispham , in the north of Blackpool . The road runs a total distance of approximately 19 miles (31 km), largely following the Fylde coastline, and for 7 miles (11 km) forms Blackpool's promenade . It begins in Clifton, west of Preston, as a junction on the A583 Blackpool Road. As Preston New Road, it runs west for 3 miles (5 km), bypassing Freckleton and then becomes Lytham Road through Warton towards Lytham , where it becomes
156-565: A continuous built-up area from Lytham St Annes to Fleetwood , including Blackpool, and further north is the Lancaster/Morecambe built-up area . The rest of the region is characterised by small towns and villages in the flat farmland surrounding the lower reaches of the Ribble , Wyre , and Lune and the sparsely populated uplands of the Forest of Bowland . The centre and south-east of Lancashire
234-649: A major part of the local economy, but today only the Burlington Slate Quarries at Kirkby remain of note. The A590 is the main road into the region from the M6 Motorway . The A595 is the main route up the western coast of Furness, and the A593/A5084 run north-south from Low Furness to High Furness. The Furness Line provides railway connections to the West Coast Mainline through the south of Furness, and
312-595: A mile to terminate at the A587 Fleetwood Road, just south of Cleveleys . Between Starr Gate and Little Bispham, the road runs adjacent to the tram tracks. 53°44′45″N 3°01′10″W / 53.7458°N 3.0195°W / 53.7458; -3.0195 This England road or road transport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lancashire Lancashire ( / ˈ l æ ŋ k ə ʃ ər / LAN -kə-shər , /- ʃ ɪər / -sheer ; abbreviated Lancs )
390-687: A national landscape. The major rivers of the county are, from north to south, the Lune , the Wyre , and the Ribble , which all flow west into the Irish Sea. The highest point in Lancashire is either Gragareth or Green Hill , both approximately 628 m (2,060 ft) high and located in the far north-east of the county. Lancashire was founded in the 12th century; in the Domesday Book of 1086 much of what would become
468-459: A number of notable settlements along west to east of the M65 : including the city of Preston and towns of Blackburn , Darwen , Accrington , Burnley , Padiham , Brierfield , Nelson and Colne . South of Preston are the towns of Leyland and Chorley (which, with Preston, formed Central Lancashire New Town designated in 1970), as well as Penwortham , Skelmersdale and Ormskirk . The north of
546-509: A plant at Springfields, Salwick operated by Westinghouse and Heysham nuclear power station is operated by British Energy . Other major manufacturing firms include Leyland Trucks , a subsidiary of Paccar building the DAF truck range. Other companies with a major presence in Lancashire include: The creation of Lancashire Enterprise Zone was announced in 2011. It was launched in April 2012, based at
624-620: A rising. After a fight at Hawcoat the resistance was quashed, and the Parliament ships left for Liverpool. After collecting the king's rents, the Royalists left for Cartmel. After the Restoration of the monarchy, one Furness landowner, Colonel Sawry, attempted a rising. Iron had been mined in Furness since prehistory, and by the late 18th century ore was being exported from Barrow. The Furness Railway
702-454: A small village to a large town during the 19th century, is characterized by a grid pattern of streets of terraced houses , surrounded by more contemporary suburbs. Though the Port of Barrow still contains much industry, there has also been significant redevelopment of former dock areas into retail parks, office blocks and spaces of light industry. The other major town in the area is Ulverston , at
780-520: Is a ceremonial county in North West England . It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Preston is the largest settlement. The county has an area of 3,079 square kilometres (1,189 sq mi) and a population of 1,490,300. After Preston (147,800),
858-951: Is based in County Hall in Preston , and has 84 councillors. The council has been controlled by the Conservative Party since the 2017 Lancashire County Council elections ; the 2021 elections they won 48 seats, the Labour Party won 32, and the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party won two each. The twelve districts of the non-metropolitan county are Burnley , Chorley , Fylde , Hyndburn , Lancaster , Pendle , Preston , Ribble Valley , Rossendale , South Ribble , West Lancashire , and Wyre . Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen are unitary authorities , meaning their councils combine
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#1733084889928936-768: Is flat country and Esthwaite Water . West of Coniston Water is the highest range, the Coniston Fells, with the Coniston Old Man (803 m) as its highest point (and historically the highest point in Lancashire). 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. The low rolling hills of Low Furness are formed of glacial deposits, mainly boulder clay, above Triassic sandstone and Carboniferous limestone. There are large deposits of iron ore here, of very pure quality. The human geography of
1014-690: Is home to four universities: Lancaster University , the University of Central Lancashire , Edge Hill University and the Lancaster campus of the University of Cumbria . Seven colleges offer higher education courses. The Lancashire economy relies strongly on the M6 motorway which runs from north to south, past Lancaster and Preston. The M55 connects Preston to Blackpool and is 11.5 miles (18.3 km) long. The M65 motorway from Colne , connects Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn to Preston. The M61 from Preston via Chorley and
1092-482: Is limited at most schools in most districts, with only Fylde and Lancaster districts having mostly sixth forms at schools. The rest depend on FE colleges and sixth form colleges, where they exist. South Ribble has the largest school population and Fylde the smallest (only three schools). Burnley's schools have had a new broom and have essentially been knocked down and started again in 2006. There are many Church of England and Catholic faith schools in Lancashire. Lancashire
1170-802: Is now disused. Lancashire was historically the location of the port of Liverpool while Barrow-in-Furness is famous for shipbuilding . As of 2013, the largest private sector industry is the defence industry with BAE Systems Military Air Solutions division based in Warton on the Fylde coast. The division operates a manufacturing site in Samlesbury . Other defence firms include BAE Systems Global Combat Systems in Chorley, Ultra Electronics in Fulwood and Rolls-Royce plc in Barnoldswick . The nuclear power industry has
1248-428: Is relatively urbanised, especially around the major settlements of Preston , Blackburn , and Burnley and near the border with Greater Manchester. The Central Lancashire urban area includes the city of Preston and the towns of Penwortham , Leyland and Chorley . A short distance east, Blackburn and Darwen are the first of several adjacent areas urban areas which stretch east toward West Yorkshire and south into
1326-489: Is still the home of flying schools, private operators and North West Air Ambulance. Manchester Airport is the main airport in the region. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is nearby, while the closest airport to the Pendle Borough is Leeds Bradford . There is an operational airfield at Warton near Preston where there is a major assembly and test facility for BAE Systems . Heysham offers ferry services to Ireland and
1404-647: Is that the Duchy administers bona vacantia within the County Palatine, receiving the property of persons who die intestate and where the legal ownership cannot be ascertained. The county palatine boundaries remain the same as the historic boundaries , ignoring subsequent local government reforms. Lancashire in the 19th century was a major centre of economic activity, and hence one of wealth. Activities included coal mining, textile production, particularly that which used cotton, and fishing. Preston Docks, an industrial port
1482-543: Is the county flower found on the county's heraldic badge and flag. The rose was a symbol of the House of Lancaster , immortalised in the verse "In the battle for England's head/ York was white, Lancaster red" (referring to the 15th-century Wars of the Roses ). A flag consisting of a red rose on a gold field was designed by the Friends of Real Lancashire , a pressure group which promotes
1560-545: Is the area to which the High Sheriff of Lancashire is appointed. As of 2023 these positions are held by Amanda Parker and David Taylor respectively. The ceremonial county is divided into sixteen constituencies for the purpose of parliamentary representation. The Duchy of Lancaster , the private estate of the sovereign, exercises the right of the Crown in the County Palatine of Lancaster. The most prominent effect of this
1638-518: The Cumbria Coast Line is a slow rural branch line with services running north to Copeland and Carlisle . The Windermere Ferry in the east of Furness is England's only vehicular lake ferry. Furness seems to have been scantly populated in ancient times. A handful of Brittonic placenames survive around Barrow, suggesting this part was settled earliest. Anglo-Saxons arrived in Low Furness in
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#17330848899281716-567: The Furness exclave . The new ceremonial county of Lancashire also gained land in 1974, as the urban districts of Barnoldswick and Earby , Bowland Rural District , and the parishes of Bracewell and Brogden and Salterforth from Skipton Rural District were transferred from the West Riding of Yorkshire . One parish, Simonswood , was transferred from the borough of Knowsley in Merseyside to
1794-589: The Isle of Man . As part of its industrial past, Lancashire gave rise to an extensive network of canals, which extend into neighbouring counties. These include the Leeds and Liverpool Canal , Lancaster Canal , Sankey Canal , Bridgewater Canal , Rochdale Canal , Ashton Canal and Manchester Ship Canal . The major settlements in the ceremonial county are concentrated on the Fylde coast (the Blackpool Urban Area ), and
1872-569: The Leighton Moss nature reserve. In the east of the county are upland areas leading to the Pennines. North of the Ribble are Beacon Fell Country Park and the Forest of Bowland , another National Landscape . Much of the lowland in this area is devoted to dairy farming and cheesemaking, whereas the higher ground is more suitable for sheep, and the highest ground is uncultivated moorland . The valleys of
1950-596: The Lord-Lieutenant (termed now a ceremonial county ) covered the entirety of the administrative county and the county boroughs. It expanded whenever boroughs annexed areas in neighbouring counties such as Wythenshawe in Manchester south of the River Mersey and from Cheshire, and southern Warrington . It did not cover the western part of Todmorden , where the ancient border between Lancashire and Yorkshire passes through
2028-578: The M66 starting 500 metres (0.3 mi) inside the county boundary near Edenfield , provide links between Lancashire and Manchester, and the trans-Pennine M62 . The M58 crosses the southernmost part of the county from the M6 near Wigan to Liverpool via Skelmersdale . Other major roads include the east–west A59 between Liverpool in Merseyside and Skipton in North Yorkshire via Ormskirk, Preston and Clitheroe, and
2106-727: The Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government building in London. An alternative flag consists of a red rose on a white field. This design had already been registered by Montrose in Scotland. Furness Furness ( / ˈ f ɜːr n ɪ s , f ɜːr ˈ n ɛ s / FUR -niss, fur- NESS ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria , England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale , historically an exclave of Lancashire . On 1 April 2023 it became part of
2184-574: The Ribble , Wyre and Lune , which all drain west to the Irish Sea . The Wyre rises in Bowland and is entirely within Lancashire, while the Ribble and Lune rise in North Yorkshire and Cumbria respectively. Many of Lancashire's other rivers are tributaries of the Ribble, including the Calder , Darwen , Douglas , and Hodder . The Irwell , which flows through Manchester, has its source in Lancashire. To
2262-494: The Victorian era , Lancashire has had multiple reforms of local government. In 1889, the administrative county of Lancashire was created, covering the greater part of the county. Multiple county boroughs were outside the county council control: Barrow-in-Furness , Blackburn , Bolton , Bootle , Burnley , Bury , Liverpool , Manchester , Oldham , Preston , Rochdale , Salford , St. Helens , and Wigan . The area served by
2340-584: The historic county of Lancashire, which bordered Cumberland to the northwest and Westmorland to the northeast (the point where the three counties met is marked by the Three Shire Stone at the head of the Duddon). North Lonsdale is also called "Lancashire North of the Sands". In 1974, North Lonsdale – along with Cumberland, Westmorland, and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire (around Sedbergh ) – became part of
2418-594: The manufacture of textiles . The Lancashire coalfield was also exploited, with many collieries opening. By 1971 Lancashire had a population of 5,118,405, which made it the most heavily populated county in the United Kingdom after Greater London . During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the military zone of Roman Britain . The towns of Manchester , Lancaster , Ribchester , Burrow , Elslack and Castleshaw grew around Roman forts. In
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2496-460: The 10th century. In the Domesday Book , land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as " Inter Ripam et Mersam " and included in the returns for Cheshire . Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire, it is by no means certain. It is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire . The county
2574-493: The 7th century, but do not seem to have spread to High Furness, which remained almost empty until it was populated by incoming Scandinavians in the 10th century. It has been suggested that they had a small mountain kingdom there, centred on Coniston (which means "king's town"). The prevalence of names with the element "thwaite" in High Furness (from Norse thveit , "clearing"), and the absence thereof in Low Furness, suggests that
2652-423: The Furness iron industry flourished in the 19th century, is the region's largest settlement, with a population of over 91,000. The remainder of Furness is predominantly rural, with Ulverston the only other settlement with more than 10,000 people. Much of High Furness consists of moorland, mountain or woodland environments. The name, which is first recorded in 1150 as Fuththernessa , is interpreted as "headland by
2730-592: The River Duddon up to Wrynose Pass , and then the Brathay until it flows into Windermere . 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. In total Furness has an area of about 250 square miles (650 square kilometres). The Furness Fells are formed of Ordovician volcanic rocks, and Silurian shales and slates to
2808-606: The River Ribble and its tributary the Calder form a large gap to the west of the Pennines, overlooked by Pendle Hill . South of the Ribble are the West Pennine Moors and the Forest of Rossendale , where former cotton mill towns are in deep valleys. The Lancashire Coalfield , largely in modern-day Greater Manchester , extended into Merseyside and to Ormskirk , Chorley , Burnley and Colne in Lancashire. The highest point of
2886-696: The Royal Navy's first submarines built there. 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
2964-543: The UK. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , southern parts of administrative Lancashire were transferred to the two newly established metropolitan counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester . Widnes and Warrington , which did not form part of either new county but which were cut off from the rest of Lancashire, were transferred to Cheshire . In the north, the new county of Cumbria incorporated
3042-489: The abbots of Furness to defend the market town of Dalton and the port of Barrow respectively. The area had been raided by Scots in 1316 and again in 1322, though in the latter year the abbot paid Robert the Bruce a ransom to stop his men harrying Low Furness. The pretender Lambert Simnel landed with his army at Piel Island in 1487. A few locals joined him, including Sir Thomas Broughton of Broughton Tower, who would be killed at
3120-430: The administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire . Lancaster, the historic county town , became a city in 1937. The administrative county was also the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. By the census of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in
3198-598: The airfields owned by BAE Systems in Warton and Samlesbury. Warton Aerodrome covers 72 hectares (180 acres) and Samlesbury Aerodrome is 74 hectares. Development is coordinated by Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Lancashire County Council and BAE Systems. The first businesses to move into the zone did so in March 2015, at Warton. In March 2015 the government announced a new enterprise zone would be created at Blackpool Airport , using some airport and adjoining land. Operations at
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3276-583: The airport will not be affected. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire at basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling. Lancashire has a mostly comprehensive system with four state grammar schools. Not including sixth form colleges , there are 77 state schools (not including Burnley's new schools) and 24 independent schools. The Clitheroe area has secondary modern schools. Sixth form provision
3354-490: The area is dominated by the town of Barrow-in-Furness . Barrow is located on the tip of the peninsula and Walney Island , and the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness , which includes the small town of Dalton-in-Furness and the town of Millom (the latter of which, although statistically in "Furness" for this purpose, is not actually part of the defined geographic area known as Furness) has a population of 69,100. Barrow, which grew from
3432-402: The border of Low and High Furness, and the population of Ulverston and its surrounding villages is 17,307. The corridor along the main A590 road between Ulverston and Barrow is relatively densely populated and urban. Despite decline, industry remains a bigger employer in this part of Furness than most of the UK, with BAE Systems , Kimberly-Clark (both Barrow) and GlaxoSmithKline (Ulverston)
3510-408: The centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged , a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria from the north of the River Ribble and the Kingdom of Mercia from the south, which both became parts of England in
3588-431: The ceremonial counties of West Yorkshire , Cheshire , Merseyside , Greater Manchester and Cumbria : Boundary changes before 1974 include: The ceremonial county of Lancashire is divided into fourteen local government districts . Twelve are part of the two-tier non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, which is administered by Lancashire County Council and twelve district councils. Lancashire County Council
3666-403: The ceremonial county is Gragareth , near Whernside , which reaches a height of 627 m (2,057 ft). Green Hill near Gragareth has also been cited as the "county" top . The highest point in the historic county is Coniston Old Man in the Lake District , at 803 m (2,634 ft). The north of the ceremonial county is less densely populated than the south, especially inland. The Fylde coast forms
3744-451: The coast road along Lytham Green. From here it continues west through Fairhaven and St Annes-on-the-Sea following the coast as it turns to the north, as Clifton Drive. The road enters Blackpool on the coast at Starr Gate, near Blackpool Airport , about 7 miles (11 km) from Lytham. It continues north up the coast for a further 7 miles (11 km), as Blackpool Promenade (called the Queen's Promenade after Gynn Square), passing through
3822-400: The connecting A565 to Southport ; the A56 from Ramsbottom to Padiham via Haslingden and from Colne to Skipton; the A585 from Kirkham to Fleetwood ; the A666 from the A59 north of Blackburn to Bolton via Darwen ; and the A683 from Heysham to Kirkby Lonsdale via Lancaster. Several bus companies run bus services in the Lancashire area serving the main towns and villages in
3900-426: The county is predominantly rural and sparsely populated, except for the city of Lancaster and the towns of Morecambe and Heysham , the three of which form a large conurbation of almost 100,000 people. Lancashire is home to a significant Asian population, numbering over 70,000 and 6% of the county's population, and concentrated largely in the former cotton mill towns in the south east. The Red Rose of Lancaster
3978-420: The county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire . Until the Early Modern period the county was a comparatively poor backwater, although in 1351 it became a palatine , with a semi-independent judicial system. This changed during the Industrial Revolution , when the county rapidly industrialised; until 1974 it included both Liverpool, a major port, and Manchester, which with its surrounding towns dominated
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#17330848899284056-822: The county with some services running to neighbouring areas, Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Merseyside and West Yorkshire . Some of these include: The West Coast Main Line provides direct rail links with London, Glasgow and other major cities, with stations at Preston and Lancaster . East-west connections are carried via the East Lancashire Line between Blackpool and Colne via Lytham , Preston, Blackburn , Accrington and Burnley . The Ribble Valley Line runs from Bolton to Hellifield with regular passenger services running as far as Clitheroe via Darwen and Blackburn. There are connecting lines from Preston to Ormskirk and Bolton, and from Lancaster to Morecambe , Heysham and Skipton . Blackpool Airport are no longer operating domestic or international flights, but it
4134-466: The disastrous Battle of Stoke Field . 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 . Later they were granted to the dukes of Buccleuch and Devonshire . In May 1643, Furness was occupied and plundered by a large Royalist force commanded by Richard Viscount Molyneux . Later that year they prepared to march to
4212-458: The district of West Lancashire in 1994. In 1998 Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen became unitary authorities , removing them from the non-metropolitan county but not from the ceremonial county . As the new boundary changes came into effect on 1 April 1974, a government statement in The Times newspaper stated: “They are administrative areas and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties”. The three main rivers in Lancashire are
4290-445: The eastern part of the Forest of Bowland . The west of Lancashire contains flat coastal plains: the West Lancashire coastal plain to the south and the Fylde in the centre. The north-western coast is hilly and contains part of Arnside and Silverdale , a national landscape . The east of the county is upland, with the West Pennine Moors in the south-east and the Forest of Bowland in the north-west; Bowland has also been designated
4368-420: The functions of a district and county council. They were formed in 1996, before which each district was part of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire. Both authorities currently have a majority Labour administration. The ceremonial county itself only has a minor administrative functions, being the area to which the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire is appointed; the shrieval county has the same boundaries and
4446-410: The historic county, and registered with the Flag Institute , a vexillological charity, in 2008. The flag has been flown from public buildings within the historic county boundaries on Lancashire Day (27 November), including from County Hall in Preston , St Helens Town Hall , the in the parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which were previously in Lancashire. It has also been flown from
4524-434: The largest employers. In Barrow and up the west coast of Furness, the Sellafield Nuclear site is also a significant employer. The rest of Furness is rural, with the mountainous, wooded and lacustrine environments. To the west, the main settlements of Kirkby-in-Furness and Broughton-in-Furness are dominated by farming and commuting. The Lake District National Park covers most of High Furness, with Coniston and Hawkshead
4602-485: The largest settlements are Blackpool (141,100) and Blackburn (124,995); the city of Lancaster has a population of 52,655. For local government purposes, Lancashire comprises a non-metropolitan county , with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas: Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool . The county historically included northern Greater Manchester and Merseyside, the Furness and Cartmel peninsulas of Cumbria, and part of northern Cheshire , but excluded
4680-404: The latter had already been deforested by the time the Scandinavians arrived. 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. Before the Conquest, Furness, assessed to contain 82 ploughlands , was part of the Manor of Hougun , held by Tostig, Earl of Northumbria . By 1086, Furness
4758-402: The main centres for tourism, while major tourist attractions include Grizedale Forest , the Aquarium of the Lakes , South Lakes Safari Zoo and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway . The northern and eastern communities of Furness share more in common with the Lake District towns of Ambleside and Bowness , outside of the region, than with the more urban areas of Low Furness. Mining was once
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#17330848899284836-405: The majority of Chorley. Elsewhere it is less extensive but covers the areas between the major settlements to prevent their convergence both with each other and with the nearby Merseyside and Greater Manchester conurbations. There is a further area of green belt in the north of the county, between Lancaster, Morecambe , and Carnforth . Some settlements within the historic county boundaries are in
4914-413: The middle of the town. During the 20th century, the county became increasingly urban with Warrington (1900), Blackpool (1904) and Southport (1905) becoming county boroughs, with many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were particularly complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs – Lees Urban District formed a detached part of
4992-431: The new administrative county of Cumbria . At the district level, it now consists of the borough of Barrow and part of South Lakeland . From April 2023, Furness will form part of the new unitary council area of Westmorland and Furness , which will replace Cumbria County Council and the districts of Barrow and South Lakeland , all of which will be abolished. Low Furness and the western part of High Furness are in
5070-409: The new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness . The Furness Peninsula , also known as Low Furness, is an area of villages, agricultural land and low-lying moorland , with the industrial town of Barrow-in-Furness at its head. The peninsula is bordered by the estuaries of the River Duddon to the west and the River Leven in Morecambe Bay to the east. The wider region of Furness consists of
5148-412: The newer attractions. 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 . Proposals for a road bridge over Morecambe Bay have appeared, but are yet to progress beyond the planning stages. Furness formed the greater part of the North Lonsdale exclave of
5226-499: The peninsula and the area known as High Furness , which is a relatively mountainous and sparsely populated part of England, extending inland into the Lake District and containing the Furness Fells . The inland boundary of the region is formed by the rivers Leven, Brathay and Duddon, and the lake of Windermere . Off the southern tip of Furness is Walney Island , 11 miles (18 kilometres) long, as well as several smaller islands . The Borough of Barrow-in-Furness , which developed when
5304-440: The relief of Thurland Castle in South Lonsdale, then besieged by Colonel Rigby , but Rigby took some of his men over the sands and met the Royalists at Lindal , where they were routed. The Parliamentarians looted the Dalton neighbourhood before retreating to Cartmel the same night. 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
5382-457: The rump-shaped island," from Old Norse futh (genitive futhar ), meaning rump, and nes , meaning headland. The island in question may be Piel Island , with the name originally referring to the headland immediately opposite (where Rampside is), before being extended to the entire region. Alternatively it could be Walney Island : though it little resembles a rump today, erosion could have altered its shape over time. Furness's border follows
5460-476: The south. They are cut through by Windermere, Coniston Water , and numerous valleys which drain into the Esk , the Duddon, and Morecambe Bay. The higher ground is rocky heathland, with frequent tarns , while the lower ground supports pasture and woodland. In the east there are two main chains of hills: one overlooking Windermere, with Latterbarrow (245 m) as its highest point, and the other, which reaches 300 m, overlooking Coniston Water. Between them
5538-404: The tourist trade. In the early 1990s, the decline of shipbuilding led to mass redundancies in the area. The shipyard's employment figures fell from 20,000 to 3,000 in a 20-year period. However, the shipyard at Barrow remains England's busiest and the only nuclear submarine facility in the country. Tourism has increased even more, with the Aquarium of the Lakes and South Lakes Safari Zoo among
5616-617: The town centre as well as many well-known landmarks, including the Pleasure Beach , the Sandcastle Waterpark , Blackpool Tower and the town's three piers . The 5-mile (8 km) stretch between Starr Gate and Bispham is also the site of Blackpool Illuminations during the months of September and October. North of Bispham, the road passes through the suburb of Norbreck and the large Norbreck Castle Hotel before reaching Little Bispham. At this point, it moves inland for roughly half
5694-410: The valleys leading to Greater Manchester, the others being Accrington and Rossendale and Burnley . West Lancashire in the south-west is rural with the exception of Skelmersdale , which forms part of Wigan urban area . The North West Green Belt covers a large part of the south and centre of the county, including all of the non-urban areas in the boroughs of West Lancashire and South Ribble and
5772-567: The west of the county are the Fylde coastal plain and West Lancashire coastal plain , which lie north and south of the Ribble Estuary respectively. Apart from the coastal resorts these areas are largely rural and devoted to vegetable crops. Further north is Morecambe Bay . In the northwest corner of the county, straddling the border with Cumbria, is the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape, characterised by its limestone pavements and home to
5850-513: Was built in the 19th century to cater to the increasing demand. Iron and steelworks were established at Barrow, and the town's population grew from 325 in 1847 to 51,712 in 1891, surpassing Dalton's and Ulverston's. Mining in Furness reached its peak in 1882, when 1,408,693 tons of ore were won. At the same time, tourism in the Lake District increased, popularised in part by the work of John Ruskin and William Wordsworth . Tourism in High Furness
5928-399: Was established in 1182, and came to be bordered by Cumberland , Westmorland , Yorkshire, and Cheshire. It was divided into the hundreds of Amounderness , Blackburn , Leyland , Lonsdale , Salford and West Derby . Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the detached part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel , and Lonsdale South. Since
6006-460: Was in the possession of the crown. In 1127 Prince Stephen founded Furness Abbey , granting the abbot most of the land in Furness and giving the rest to a Fleming named Michael. Henry III later granted the rent due from the lord of Michael's Land (£10 per year) to the abbot of Furness, making him the sole tenant-in-chief , and thus one of the most powerful abbots in the country. In the 14th century Dalton Castle and Piel Castle were built by
6084-505: Was promoted by the writings of Beatrix Potter in the early 20th century. Potter was one of the largest landowners in the area, eventually donating her many properties to the National Trust . Shipbuilding later replaced iron and steel as Low Furness's main industry, and Barrow's shipyards became the largest in England. In particular, submarine development became a specialty of the town, with
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