The Barrow Jute Works was a jute and

flax mill Flax mills are mills which process flax. The earliest mills were developed for spinning yarn for the linen industry. John Kendrew (an optician) and Thomas Porthouse (a clockmaker), both of Darlington developed the process from Richard Ar ...

located in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of 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 B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

(now

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during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The mill was built for the ''Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company'' which was founded by James Ramsden in 1870 in an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy which was heavily focused on iron and steel production. The Jute Works itself was designed by architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

and occupied over 12-acres with a facade on Hindpool Road and along

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

. The mill was served by its own

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 prep ...

on 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 ...

which connected it to the town's docks, steelworks and cornmill. The mill's all female workforce peaked at 2,000, many of whom were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

immigrants. The jute fabrics produced were used for a wide range of items including telegraph cables, ropes and artificial hair, later including the production of Kalemeit for carpets, rugs and window drapery. The quality of produce was acknowledged in 1878 at the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

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where the ''Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company'' was awarded a gold medal in the field. Two fires damaged the works during its history - 1879 and 1892, the latter occasion destroying half of the mill that was never rebuilt. Competition from the Indian jute trade as well as the large jute works in Dundee led to the mill's ultimate demise. Barrow Jute Works' iconic chimney was demolished in 1930, followed by the offices in 1948. The site is now occupied by Hindpool Retail Park having also previously contained the Barrow Corporation Bus Depot up until its demolition in the 1980s. The southernmost part of the site fronting Abbey Road contains the former

John Whinnerah Institute The John Whinnerah Institute is a Grade II listed Art Deco building and former educational establishment located on Abbey Road in Barrow-in-Furness, England. Having been constructed between 1937 and 1938 on the site of the demolished Jute Works ...

and Lakeland Laundry building.

References

External links

Institution of Mechanical Engineers' 'The Engineer' 1880 Report into the Barrow Flax and Jute Works
{{coords, 54.113, -3.233, display=title Jute mills Jute works Barrow Jute Works Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company Jute works Barrow Jute Works Barrow Jute Works Barrow Jute Works Buildings and structures demolished in 1948 1870 establishments in England

See also

References

External links