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FURNESS

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 363 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FURNESS , a See also:

district of See also:Lancashire, See also:England, separated from the See also:major portion of the See also:county by See also:Morecambe See also:Bay. It is bounded S.E. by this inlet of the Irish See also:Sea, S.W. by the sea, W. by the Duddon See also:estuary and See also:Cumberland, and N. and E. by See also:Westmorland. Its See also:area is about 250 sq. m. It forms the greater See also:part of the See also:North See also:Lonsdale See also:parliamentary See also:division of Lancashire, and contains the parliamentary See also:borough of See also:Barrow-in-Furness. The See also:surface is almost entirely hilly. The See also:northern See also:half is included in the celebrated See also:Lake District, and contains such eminences as the Old See also:Man of Coniston and Wetherlam. Apart from the Duddon, which forms part of the western boundary, the See also:principal See also:rivers are the See also:Leven and Crake, flowing southward into a See also:common estuary in Morecambe Bay. The Leven drains See also:Windermere and the Crake Coniston Lake. The usage of the See also:term " Lake District," however, tends to limit the name of Furness in common thought to the district See also:south of the Lakes, where several of the See also:place-names are suffixed with that of the district, as Barrow-in-Furness, See also:Dalton-in-Furness, See also:Broughton-in-Furness. Between the Duddon and Morecambe Bay lies Walney See also:Island, 8 m. in length, and in the shallow strait between it and the mainland are several smaller islands. That part of Furness which forms a See also:peninsula between the Leven estuary and Morecambe Bay, and the Duddon estuary, is See also:rich in hematite See also:iron ore, which has been worked from very See also:early times. It was known and smelted by See also:British and See also:Romans, and by the monks of Furness See also:Abbey and Conishead Priory, both in the district.

It was owing to the existence of this ore that the See also:

town of Barrow See also:grew up in the 19th See also:century; at first as a See also:port from which the ore was exported to South See also:Wales, while later furnaces were established on the spot, and acquired additional importance on the introduction of the See also:Bessemer See also:process, which requires a non-phosphoric ore such as is found here. The hematite is also worked at See also:Ulverston, Askam, Dalton and elsewhere, but the furnaces now depend in part upon ore imported from See also:Spain. The supposed See also:extension of the ore under the sands of the Duddon estuary led to the construction of a sea See also:wall to facilitate the working. The district is served by the See also:main See also:line of the Furness railway, from Carnforth (junction with the See also:London & North-Western railway), passing the pleasant watering-place of See also:Grange, and approximately following the See also:coast by Ulverston, Dalton and Barrow, with branches to Lake See also:Side, Windermere, and to Coniston. Apart from its See also:industrial importance and scenic attractions, Furness has an especial See also:interest on See also:account of its famous abbey. The ruins of this, beautifully situated in a wooded Furness Abbey. valley, are extensive, and mainly of See also:fine transitional Abbey. ~'> See also:Norman and Early See also:English date, acquiring additional picturesqueness from the warm See also:colour of the red See also:sandstone of which they are built. The abbey of Furness, otherwise Furdenesia or the further nese (promontory), which was dedicated to St See also:Mary, was founded in 1127 by a small See also:body of monks belonging to the See also:Benedictine See also:order of See also:Savigny. In 1124 they had settled at Tulketh, near See also:Preston, but migrated in 1127 to Furness under the auspices of See also:Stephen, See also:count of See also:Boulogne, afterwards See also:king, at that See also:time See also:lord of the See also:liberty of Furness. In 1148 the brotherhood joined the Cistercian order. Stephen granted to the monks the lordship of Furness, and his See also:charter was confirmed by See also:Henry I., Henry II. and subsequent See also:kings. The See also:abbot's See also:power throughout the lordship was almost See also:absolute; he had a See also:market and See also:fair at Dalton, was See also:free from service to the county and See also:wapentake, and held a See also:sheriff's tourn.

By a See also:

succession of gifts the abbey became one of the richest in England and was the largest Cistercian See also:foundation in the See also:kingdom. At the See also:Dissolution its revenues amounted to between £950 and £800 a See also:year, exclusive of meadows, pastures, See also:fisheries, mines, See also:mills and See also:salt See also:works, and the See also:wealth of the monks enabled them to practise a See also:regal hospitality. The abbot was one of the twenty Cistercian abbots summoned to the See also:parliament of 1264, but was not cited after 1330, as he did not hold of the king in capite per baroniam. The abbey founded several offshoot houses, one of the most important being Rushen Abbey in the Isle of Man. In 1535 the royal commissioners visited the abbey and reported four of its inmates, including the abbot, for incontinence. In 1536 the abbot was charged with complicity in the See also:Pilgrimage of See also:Grace, and on the 7th of See also:April 1537, under compulsion, surrendered the abbey to the king. A few monks were granted See also:pensions, and the abbot was endowed with the profits of the rectory of Dalton, valued at £33, 6s. 8d. per annum. In 1540 the estates and revenues were annexed by See also:act of parliament to the Duchy of See also:Lancaster. About See also:James I.'s reign the site and territories were alienated to the Prestons of Preston-See also:Patrick, from whom they descended to the See also:dukes of See also:Devonshire. Conishead Priory, near Ulverston, an Augustinian foundation of the reign of Henry II., has See also:left no remains, but of the priory" of Cartmel (1188) the fine See also:church is still in use. It is a cruciform structure of transitional Norman and later See also:dates, its central See also:tower having the upper See also:storey set diagonally upon the See also:lower.

The See also:

chancel contains some superb Jacobean carved See also:oak screens, with stalls of earlier date.

End of Article: FURNESS

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