Barrow-in-Furness is the second largest town in Cumbria. Historically it was a small village community that was dominated by Furness monastry. The monks smelted some iron with timber. With the advent of industrialisation, Barrow was transformed dramatically when Henry Schneider came to the area in 1850 and discovered large depisits of iron ore. By 1876 he had built the largest steel works in the world. Although his steelworks transformed Barrow, he actually lived in Bowness and commuted daily.
Barrow Town has an impressive red brick town hall and population peaked at near 80,000 around 1930. Barrow also developed other related industries to steel, such as a port and shipbuilding with associated links to the military.
In recent years since the decline of the heavy industries, Barrow's position just south of the Lake District has allowed it to become a stop off port for cruise liners.