Furness Abbey is a former

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

area of the Furness Peninsula, England.

Context

Furness Abbey Station was situated to the north of

Furness Abbey Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness, is a former Catholic monastery located to the north of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the coun ...

. As well as being the gateway for visitors to the romantic ruins of the Abbey and to the south lakes, the station - one of the company's finest - was closely linked to the

Furness Abbey Hotel 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 o ...

, owned by the Furness Railway Company. It 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.

History

The Furness Railway was authorised in 1844 to build a line which would link

Kirkby-in-Furness Kirkby-in-Furness, generally referred to simply as Kirkby locally, is a village in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it's located close to the Lake District National Park. It is about south of Broughton i ...

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 original station at Furness Abbey was opened in 1846 and was substantially enlarged by 1862 to receive passengers from further afield - when the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

was directly linked. After 1850 passengers had already begun to travel from West Cumbria, although the Furness company did not formally lease the coast line from Whitehaven until 1865.

Services

Services stopped at Furness Abbey to allow passengers to visit the Abbey and to use the Furness Abbey Hotel, owned by the railway company. 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 eventually ceased in 1882, when the loop line to the new central Barrow station on Abbey Road was completed and trains could continue from there northwards to Askam without reversing. Having been damaged by bombing in May 1941 (when the Furness Abbey Hotel was also hit), the station was closed by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

shortly after

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

, and was subsequently demolished in the early 1950s, as was 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 is now the Abbey Tavern. See YouTube/the Yellow Factory 'The Story of the Furness Abbey Hotel and Station'.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Site of Former Furness Abbey Station
{{Closed stations Cumbria Buildings and structures in Barrow-in-Furness Former buildings and structures in Barrow-in-Furness Disused railway stations in Cumbria Former Furness Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1950 1846 establishments in England