Barrow-in-Furness, a seaport and manufacturing town of North Lancashire, situated on the south-western coast of the peninsula of Furness, opposite a small island called Barrow Island, which is traditionally reported to have been in former times a burial-place of Norse rovers. By rail it is 36 miles WNW. of Lancaster, and 268 NNW. of London. In 1847 it was a fishing-village of 325 inhabitants; in 1864 the population had risen to 10,608, in 1871 to 18,245, in 1881 to 47,111, and in 1891 to 51,712. This rapid increase, matched in Great Britain by only Birkenhead and Middlesborough, is owing to Mr H. W. Schneider's discovery in 1840 of extensive deposits of rich haematite ore at Park, near Barrow; to the establishment both of mines and smelting-works; and to the opening of railway communication through- out the district, the Furness Railway Company having constructed 108 miles of line during 1846-47. In 1859 smelting-works were established which soon gave employment to a great number of men, and converted the old fishing-village into a prosperous town. In 1866 these iron-works were amalgamated with the Bessemer Steel Company, founded three years before, as the Barrow Haematite Iron and Steel Company, which, in 1887, had 14 blast-furnaces in operation, and turning out a yearly output of 360,000 tons of pig-iron and 220,000 tons of Bessemer steel. Copper also is obtained in considerable quantity in the neighbourhood; whilst some 20,000 tons of slate are annually quarried and sent by coasters or by rail to other parts of Great Britain.
The town is built on a regular plan, mostly in rectangles, with broad, regular streets, which are traversed by steam tram-ears. It is, of course, wholly modern; and to give some idea of its rapid extension, we may mention that eight new board schools, with accommodation for 3822 children, were opened during 1875-77; and that in 1878 four new Anglican churches were consecrated on the same day, besides three built between 1865 and 1871. In 1872 a statue was unveiled of the first mayor, Sir James Ramsden, and in 1885 one of Lord Frederick Cavendish. The great ornament of the place is the town-hall, built in 1887 at a cost of £80,000.
The Dukes of Devonshire and Buecleueh are the principal landowners of the town and neighbourhood. They have given name to the first two docks, which, together covering 66 acres, were opened by Mr Gladstone in 1867. The Ramsden and the Cavendish Dock (1877) cover a respective area of 78 and 200 acres, and, like their predecessors, are 24 feet deep. Barrow Island has since 1871 become the seat of great iron shipbuilding yards, which turn out vessels of from 20 to 8300 tons, and which, in full work, employ 5000 hands. Huge flax and jute-works were erected in 1872 by the great capitalists of Barrow to provide employment for women and girls, 1800 of whom find constant work. There are besides engineering works (1866), a great steam-mill (1871), furnace-building works, and iron-founding, brewing, boiler-making, &c. Its foreign trade is increasing; the imports including timber (since 1868) from Sweden and Canada, coal from Wales, and preserved provisions from New York. The chief exports are ore, steel rails, and pig-iron. Steamers ply regularly between Belfast, Glasgow, and Douglas, Isle of Man. The interesting ruins of Furness Abbey lie within 2 miles of the town; while on Piel Island there are the ruins of a castle built by the Abbot of Furness. From the excellence of the harbour, the abundant facilities of railway conveyance, and the mineral wealth of the district, it may confidently be expected that Barrow-in-Furness will still rapidly increase in importance. It was made a municipal borough in 1867; and since the Distribution of Seats Act (1885), it has returned one member to parliament. See J. Richardson's Furness Past and Present (Barrow, 1880).