BARROW-IN-FURNESS, municipal, county and parlia mentary borough, Lancashire, England, 2641 m. N.W. by N. from London, on the L.M.S. railway. Pop. (1891) 51,712 ; (1931) 66,366. It lies on the seaward side of the peninsula forming part of the district of Furness, between the estuary of the Duddon and Morecambe Bay, where a narrow channel intervenes between the mainland and the long low island of Walney. Barrow is of rapid modern growth through the working of veins of pure haematite iron ore in the district of Furness (q.v.). At the outset Barrow merely exported the ore to the furnaces of South Wales and the midlands. At the beginning of the 19th century this export amounted at most to a few thousand tons, and though it had reached some 50,000 in 1847 the population of Barrow was only 325. In 1846 the first section of the Furness railway was opened, connecting Barrow with the mines near Dalton; in the ensuing years a great increase in trade justified the opening of further communications, and in 1859 the ironworks of Messrs. Schneider & Hannay were instituted. The Barrow Haematite Steel Company (1866) absorbed this company, and a great out put of steel produced by the Bessemer process was begun. Other industries followed. Of these the shipbuilding works have sur passed the steel works in importance, the celebrated firm of Vickers, Sons & Maxim having a yard where they construct war vessels and others. There are also a petroleum storage establish ment, a paper-pulp factory, and engineering and wagon works with tool and boiler making a speciality.
The docks in the strait between Barrow Island and the mainland were constructed in 1867. The Ramsden docks are a subsequent extension. There is also a graving dock. Passenger steamers run to Belfast. The shipbuilding yards developed greatly during the World War and war vessels of all types were constructed.
The Cavendish dock adjoining the Ramsden dock on the east has been leased to the firm of Vickers, Ltd., for the construction of airship sheds. The airship factory is on Walney Island, which is connected with the mainland by a bridge with an opening span of 120 ft., for the passage of vessels. Further, electrical power is now obtained by works on the Leven river at Back barrow near Lake Windermere for Barrow and other towns. The town is laid out in rectangular form and has many public build ings. A Carnegie library was opened in 1922. Vickerstown, on Walney Island, is becoming increasingly a residential suburb of Barrow. The James Dunn park is on the east, and the Biggar Bank, a public recreation ground facing the Irish Sea, on the west side of the island. The town was incorporated in 1867 and became a county borough in 1888. The corporation consists of a mayor, eight aldermen and 24 councillors. Area acres with 1,311 of water and 10,385 of foreshore.