Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness , city (1991 pop. 50,174) and district, Cumbria, NW England, on the tip of the Furness peninsula. The port of Barrow has c.300 acres (121 hectares) of docks, and shipbuilding is an important industry, although much reduced in scale now. Barrow is also one of the principal engineering cities of Britain. There are diesel-engine factories, smelting works, sawmills, flour and paper mills, and industries associated with offshore gas fields. Deposits of iron ore, discovered in the late 19th cent. and responsible for Barrow's growth, have since been depleted. The ruins of the medieval Furness Abbey, England's second largest abbey, are nearby. The district of Barrow includes four adjacent islands.

Barrow‐in‐Furness, England/UK Barrai ‘Promontory Island’ from the possible Celtic barr ‘promontory’ or ‘height’, rather than the more usual Old English bearu ‘small wood’ or ‘grove’, and ey. Furness distinguishes it from other towns named Barrow and means ‘headland by the rump‐shaped island’ from the Old Scandinavian futh and nes ‘headland’.

Furness peninsula, 15 mi (24 km) long and 4 mi (6.4 km) wide, Cumbria, NW England, between the estuary of the River Duddon and Morecambe Bay. The term is also applied to areas N of Morecambe Bay that are part of the Lake District . In the southwest are virtually extinguished iron mines, which gave rise to the great steelworks formerly centered on Barrow-in-Furness . Farming and tourism are the peninsula's primary industries. Furness Abbey (now in ruins), near Barrow, was a wealthy institution founded by the Benedictines in 1127.