Ramsden Dock is one of the four docks which make up the

Port of Barrow The Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west. The port is currently owned and operated by As ...

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 ...

, England. It was constructed between 1872 and 1879 covering and named in honour of Sir James Ramsden; a founder of Barrow. Ramsden Dock splits into two parts in the south, the anchor basin and dock basin. Since the infilling of a section of Devonshire Dock in the 1980s, Ramsden Dock has been the only point of entry to Barrow's now enclosed port. Managed by

Associated British Ports Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...

, Ramsden Dock is by far the busiest of the four dock in terms of cargo tonnage, handling shipments of limestone, sand, aggregates and granite. Ramsden Dock and the Port of Barrow as a whole are highly involved in the energy sector and the nearby

Rampside Gas Terminal Rampside Gas Terminal is a gas terminal situated in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on the Irish Sea coast. It connects to gas fields in Morecambe Bay. It is situated adjacent to the former Roosecote Power Station. History Production started in 19 ...

Sellafield Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nucle ...

nuclear facility and offshore windfarms. The port office is located adjacent to Ramsden Dock.

Powerboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

racing often takes place in Ramsden Dock, while a proposed redevelopment scheme of the area incorporates a watersports centre within the dock. Historically, Ramsden Dock was a major transportation hub with a dedicated

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 ...

connected to a branch of the

Furness Railway The Furness Railway (Furness) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England. History Formation In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested i ...

and a terminus of the Barrow-in-Furness Tramway. A passenger ferry terminal at the dock was utilised by the

Isle of Man Steam Packet An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * I ...

and

Barrow Steam Navigation Company The Barrow Steam Navigation Company was a steamship company, owned by the Midland Railway, Furness Railway, and James Little & Company. It was acquired by the Midland Railway in 1907. It operated a number of ships, including: * * PS Rouen (1888) ...

offering steamer services to the likes of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...

. A rail line along the eastern perimeter of Ramsden Dock remains in use to this day with freight services to and from the dock.

References

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Ramsden Ramsden may refer to: ;Places: *Ramsden, Orpington, England *Ramsden, Oxfordshire, England, a village and civil parish * Ramsden, Worcestershire, England, a hamlet *Ramsden Park, Toronto, Canada *Ramsden (crater), on the Moon * 8001 Ramsden, an as ...