The magnificent ruins of Furness Abbey are now in the care of English Heritage and attract thousands of visitors every year. Dating back to the twelfth century, the Abbey was one of the wealthiest Cistercian monasteries in the country. Over the centuries, writers and artists including William Wordsworth and Turner have come here and been inspired by the splendour of the sandstone ruins and the tranquillity of their location in a peaceful valley.In Furness Abbey Through Time, local historian and Chair of the Furness Abbey Fellowship, Gill Jepson, presents an excellent visual chronicle that looks at how the abbey precinct has changed over the last century and more. Using an impressive collection of archive photographs, postcard views and colour photographs, readers will see that the abbey has been a focal point for visitors across the decades. Successive generations have been drawn here to explore the heritage and enjoy the scenery.In addition to the main abbey precinct, photographs of its closer land holdings such as Piel Castle, Bow Bridge, Abbot's Wood and Dalton Castle are also included to provide a more comprehensive collection.This superbly illustrated book will be of interest to local people and visitors to the abbey and the surrounding area.

Furness Abbey Through Time

Arts & Photography

Jepson, Gill

Photography & Video

Amberley Publishing

A reappraisal of this unique northern industrial town situated at the end of a long peninsula, Barrow-in-Furness Reflections seeks to record the changing face of the town over time. Its fortunes are in flux, and it faces huge challenges to take it forward. The evidence of the town's ambitious and aspirational past is writ large in its buildings and community, and encouragement can be taken from these. The area has an abundance of fascinating and beautiful places and a wonderful natural environment to enjoy, often overlooked because of the industry Barrow is famous for. However, its beaches, countryside and heritage sites such as Furness Abbey and Piel Castle are just as much a part of the town and its community as the townscape.Through blended images readers can see how the landscape, streets, buildings, industries, the dockyard and aspects of everyday life have changed with the passing of time. Local author Gill Jepson presents this fascinating visual chronicle that ingeniously mirrors Barrow-in-Furness past and present. This cornucopia of visual delights awaits discovery by the unsuspecting visitor and will not disappoint.

Barrow-in-Furness Reflections

Barrow-in-Furness is a small post-industrial town at the end of a long peninsula in the north of England. Its isolated location has produced a stalwart and close population. It started life as a small hamlet and grew to become an industrial leader, first in iron and steel and later in ship-building and engineering, drawing a workforce from all over the country. The ship-building industry continues to be a major employer but today there is less diversity than in Barrow’s heyday. Although the town is known for its industry, it sits in one of the most beautiful areas of Cumbria. It boasts a rich heritage and spectacular views to the Lake District and across Morecambe Bay and, surrounded on three sides by the sea, it enjoys its own temperate climate. Furness Abbey was a great influence on the area in the medieval period and there are castles, churches, monuments and memories just waiting to be discovered by the unsuspecting visitor.

Barrow-in-Furness Through Time

History

Barrow-in-Furness has many secrets hidden in plain sight, from its earliest history to the present day. The land where the lakes meet the sea’ provides an ancient rural backdrop revealing mysteries and tales wrapped in the mists of time, from mysterious monastic murder to raids by Robert the Bruce. It was a place popular with the Romantics; William Wordsworth visited Furness Abbey and allegedly carved his initials into the sandstone. In the municipal cemetery lies the body of an Italian countess, Mary Pepi, and her husband, Rino, a Victorian music hall quick-change artist. In the same graveyard is a memorial for James Gall, a survivor of the SS Forfarshire, who was rescued by Grace Darling and lived until his eighties. Barrow claims a number of famous sons and daughters, including Liverpool and England footballer Emlyn Hughes, erstwhile editor of The Independent Chris Blackhurst, Hairy Biker Dave Myers, and Dame Stella Rimington, former Director General of MI5. The little town at the end of a cul-de-sac’ has many secrets just waiting to be discovered, and in Secret Barrow-in-Furness local author and historian Gill Jepson pulls back the curtains of history to reveal the forgotten, the strange, and the unlikely.

Secret Barrow-in-Furness

Europe

In the early nineteenth century Barrow-in-Furness was a small village of 200 people, but within forty years its population had risen to almost 50,000. It became a hive of Victorian enterprise and industry and gained an almost frontier reputation, coining the nickname ‘the Chicago of the North’. The discovery of iron ore and subsequent opening of the Furness Railway led to the development and growth of shipbuilding for which Barrow is famous. This growth accelerated until the First World War, but the iron and steel industry had started to flag after the Second World War, leaving the Vickers shipyard as the town’s main employer, though the end of the Cold War would in turn lead to defence spending cuts and job losses, the shipyard later rallying with Trident. Barrow as a post-industrial town has had to show innovation and the will to adapt and change.Barrow-in-Furness at Work explores the life of this Cumbrian town and its people, from pre-industrial beginnings through to the present day. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations, it looks at the impact that the Industrial Revolution had on the population and the consequences of rapid urbanisation, the changes in the industrial landscape during the Victorian era, the devastating impact of war, the postwar decline of its traditional industries and the town’s twenty-first-century reinvention as a hub of sustainable energy generation.

Barrow-in-Furness at Work: People and Industries Through the Years

Barrow-in-Furness was transformed by the industrial expansion of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, leading to it becoming a centre for ship and submarine building. Located at the tip of a peninsula, known for its own micro-climate and a rich and varied natural environment, the townscape is surrounded by sea, and beyond that the Lakeland Hills, while the protective arms of Walney Island provide a natural channel and harbour. Nature sits alongside industry and heritage. The iron ore industry once scarred the landscape, but time and new growth have disguised the marks. Farming is still a crucial factor in Barrow and you do not have to stray far to discover old abbey granges still functioning yet diversifying.In this book, Gill Jepson provides a fascinating insight into Barrow's places, events and its famous sons and daughters. Among them are footballer Emlyn Hughes, rugby player Willie Horne, Isle of Man TT racer Eddie Crooks, portrait artist George Romney, and the chef and 'Hairy Biker' Dave Myers. Discover the stories behind buildings including the magnificent Victorian Town Hall, the terraced houses and tenements, and gems of medieval architecture including Furness Abbey, Piel Castle and Dalton Castle.

A-Z of Barrow-in-Furness: Places-People-History

Raven's Hoard is the follow-up to The Secret of the Swan. Nate is a young archaeologist who finds himself embroiled in an exciting and, at times, terrifying adventure involving smugglers, Vikings and treasure hunters. He comes face to face with a real 18th century revenue man and his betrothed, Dolly. They become entangled in a race to find a sacred sword and are beset by all kinds of difficulties - not least of all being catapulted between different times. They witness great events, including a horrifying Viking battle, strange discoveries in a graveyard and the mysterious appearance of John Stell, a scribe from Furness Abbey. These adventures take young readers on a rollercoaster ride through time as they pit their strength and skills against their enemies both in the distant past and Nate's present. Furness Abbey is again revealed as a hub of spiritual energy and mystery, holding its secrets close. Nate experiences the loss of two important people in his life, but learns that the end is not always final. He is amazed when he meets them again, in different guises and situations. He soon learns that his adventure is closely connected with events in both his brother and his sister's lives and the story ends with a cliffhanger and the tantalising prospect of further adventures to come... Out of Time 2: Raven's Hoard is an fantasy adventure story for children aged 9-13 years old. Gill Jepson has been inspired by Alan Garner, Susan Cooper and Michael Morpurgo. Like her first two novels, Out of Time 2 is set in Furness, with the Abbey being used as a focal point, and will entertain and educate children with its historical context.

Out of Time 2: Raven's Hoard

Children's Books

Action & Adventure

Troubador Publishing Ltd

Out of Time

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