Furness

Peninsula in northwest England, between the Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay, formerly a detached northern portion of Lancashire, separated from the main part by Morecambe Bay. In 1974 it was included in the new county of Cumbria. Barrow-in-Furness is its ship-building and industrial centre. The Michaelson Dock is the principal mooring.

The peninsula is associated with the Cistercian monks of Furness Abbey, who planted trees to provide charcoal for the iron industry, and began the reclamation of the nearby marshes. Various coast protection works now exist to prevent sea flooding of the Isle of Walney off the western shore, which is now a nature reserve. Parts of the docks have been drained, including the Graving Dock, and are home to the strikingly-designed Dock Museum.

Furness Abbey The abbey lies to the northeast of Barrow-in-Furness. It was originally founded in 1123 by Savignac monks and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. The foundation acquired extensive property in Cumbria, the Isle of Man, and Ireland, and became the second most wealthy Cistercian monastery in Britain after Fountains Abbey. In 1537 the abbey was the first large foundation to be closed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and it fell into disrepair. Remains include one end of the church, late Norman arches of the cloisters, and the adjoining Early English chapter house.