History of Lindal & Marton

A village community at the heart of Furness

History

The following topics are covered on this page:

Origins of Lindal & Marton
Battle of Lindal Close
Iron ore mining & mining companies
Barrow & Ulverston iron & maritime industries
Furness Railway & pit tramways
Decline of the Furness iron & steel industry
Churches, farms & village life
Recent history
References

TIP: Please click on each photo to see a larger version.

Origins of Lindal & Marton

Place names in Cumbria arise from a variety of languages and periods of history. These include Old English, spoken by the Anglo-Saxons from the 6th to 12th centuries, and Old Norse, spoken by the Norwegians who colonised north west England from the 9th to the 12th centuries.

The name Lindal (originally Lindale) is probably of Norse origin, derived from 'Linden', an alternative name for a Lime tree, and 'dale' meaning valley, ie valley of Lime trees. However, it is also possible that the name is of Celtic origin, meaning village around a deep pond.

Marton (previously Martin, Merton and Meretun) is probably an Old English name, meaning 'farm or hamlet by a lake', derived from 'mere' meaning lake, and 'tun' meaning farm or hamlet.

Furness possibly means 'Fouldray headland', Fouldray being the old Norse name for Piel Island, which lies at the tip of the headland, and 'ness' being Old English for headland. Alternatively, Furness could mean 'further headland', from the Old English 'furora' meaning further (the first headland when approached over the sands from Lancashire being Kent's Bank). Furness is the name used to describe the peninsula to the south-west of the Lake District that includes Lindal-in-Furness, Barrow-in-Furness, Dalton-in-Furness, etc. Furness Abbey was founded in 1127, and possessed large amounts of land in the area. The term Furness was used to describe the area from around 1150.

Lindal and Marton are in an area that was once known as 'Dalton and Plain Furness'. This was a fertile land, and considerable-sized plots were brought into cultivation by the monks, using the latest scientific techniques. Both villages exhibit the ancient pattern of settlements in such areas, originally concentrated around tarns. Marton was recorded as a grange (a farm of about 100 acres) belonging to Furness Abbey in 1190. Lindal-in-Furness was recorded as a grange of Furness Abbey in 1220, and it is known that iron ore mining took place in the Lindal Moor area at that time. There are references to iron mining at Marton in 1396, when William de Merton granted rights to the Abbott and monks of Furness Abbey to freely dig for minerals in his lands at Merton. Furness Abbey was dissolved in 1537, and its lands were annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster by Act of Parliament in 1540.

See also:

Furness Railway Tourism Postcards

Battle of Lindal Close

Battle of Lindal Close (costumes not historically accurate!) The English Civil War was fought from 1642 to 1660 between supporters of King Charles I, who imposed high taxes and tried to dissolve Parliament, and supporters of Parliament. On the 1st October 1643, a battle took place at Lindal Close between Furness Royalists and a force of Parliamentarians.

The Royalist force was led by Colonel Sir William Huddleston of Millom Castle, who had imprisoned a number of leading local Parliamentarians in Dalton Castle. Some of the Parliamentarians escaped and were able to warn a Parliamentarian force under Colonel Rigby who were besieging Thurland Castle, near Kirkby Lonsdale. Colonel Rigby sent a small force of 500 foot soldiers, three drakes (cannons) and three small horse troops to counter the Royalist threat. He reached Ulverston on 30th September 1643, and advanced towards Dalton the following day.

About 1600 Royalists on horses and 200 foot soldiers were waiting on Lindal Close, the ridge overlooking Lindal Cote, barring the road to Dalton. The Parliamentarian and Royalist troops lined up against each other for about an hour. The Parliamentarians then charged with such resolution and courage, that before a shot was fired, the Royalist horse soldiers began to retreat. The Royalist foot soldiers fled, and within a quarter of an hour the battle was over. Many of the Royalist men were drowned while crossing the Duddon sands as they tried to escape to Millom. Colonel Huddleston and about 400 of his men were taken prisoner. There were only two Parliamentarian casualties, one of whom had accidentally hurt himself with his own pistol.

Iron ore mining & mining companies

In 1806 the population of Lindal was 111, and the population of Marton was 56.

The main industry that developed in the area during the 19th and 20th centuries was iron ore mining. In the 1830s and 40s, a large number of miners moved into Lindal and Marton from Cornwall and elsewhere. The Lindal Moor iron ore was of a type known as haematite, on account of its blood-red colour. It was of very good quality, being low in phosphorus, and was highly valued. Similar large deposits were found at Hodbarrow, Askam and Roanhead.

Haematite is the most important mineral ore of iron and occurs in two forms. The first is kidney ore which appears as rounded dark red masses with a metallic sheen. The second is specular iron that consists of tabular black crystals. The specimen in the photograph is kidney ore.

The royalties for iron ore mined on Lindal Moor were owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Muncaster, and the Earl of Derby. A number of companies were formed to manage the mines around Lindal and Marton, including Harrison, Ainslie, & Co, and Ulverston Mining Co.

Mines in the area were identified by letters and numbers, such as B33, W1 and W2. Some mines also had names, or have subsequently been given names by mining explorers, such as Henning Wood Pot, Margaret Mine, Pickshaft Cave, Old Cow, Belle Hill Cave, Double Chamber Pot, Diamond Pit, Daylight Hole, Berkune Pits (Nos 1 & 2), Peephole Cave, and the Ding Dong. Not surprisingly, because of the extent of the mining activities, Lindal Moor became known as The Iron Moor.

Iron miners generally worked as small companies; gangs of men managed by a mine captain, paid monthly as a unit, and the money shared amongst themselves as they saw fit. Miners were easily identifiable by their greasy red appearance, with face, hands and clothes stained red by the iron oxide. Mining was dangerous, and miners were often injured or killed by rockfalls, railway accidents, falling off wet ladders, etc. Nevertheless, or possibly as a result, they tended to be strongly religious, and the area had several Methodist and Baptist chapels, as well as the church.

The picture on the left shows a group of miners at Henning Cottage, presumably on their day off. The man standing behind the gate appears to be Mr J Polkinghorn, who can also be found adopting a similar pose in a Lindal Cricket Club photograph taken around 1900.

A number of mining techniques were employed in the Lindal and Marton area. Mostly a system of shafts and levels was used. A vertical shaft would be sunk, and the ore would be removed from a horizontal level to its outer limits. Material would be lifted out by a horse gin or steam engine. Sometimes the ground above would be allowed to collapse into the excavated level. The shaft would be extended downwards, and the process would be repeated at a lower level, and so on. This process was known as top slicing, and resulted in large surface depressions above the mineworkings, many of which can still be seen today.

Detailed statistics for mines in the area can be found on the Durham Mining Museum website, including pit ownerships, yields and details of mining accidents.

See also:

Photo of haematite reproduced by kind permission of Shropshire County Museum Service.

Photo of miners at Henning Cottage provided by Dave Barlow.

Barrow & Ulverston iron & maritime industries

For several centuries, shipbuilding and ship repair yards in Furness were concentrated on the stretch of Morecambe Bay coast between Greenodd and Ulverston. In the 1700's, merchant ships tied up at jetties or anchored in the bay off Ulverston to unload their cargoes into wagons, and reload with materials which were stockpiled by the shore awaiting export, including iron ore, charcoal, limestone, and slate. In 1774, seventy ships were registered as belonging to the port of Ulverston. To cope with growing trade, Ulverston Canal was opened in 1796, allowing ships to sail directly to the edge of town. However, the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay caused frequent movement of the shipping channel, which sometimes made the new canal inaccessible.

An ironworks was built by the North Lonsdale Iron and Steel Company in Ulverston in 1874, on a sixty acre site beside the canal, where Glaxo now stands. The works comprised four blast furnaces, each with a total height of about 100 feet, and 34 feet in diameter at the base. The tallest building on site was a 150 feet chimney. Iron ore and limestone were obtained locally, and coal was brought in by train from Durham. The company built a pier at Carter Pool, called Beaconsfield Pier, and later built a larger pier at Hammerside, called Ainslie Pier, for exporting pig iron to steelworks around the UK. The channel required continuous dredging to keep Ainslie Pier operational.

In 1800, the isolated agricultural hamlet of Barrow comprised no more than a dozen houses. By 1850, Barrow was a rapidly-expanding seafaring town with eight deep-water jetties, enabling large sailing ships to transport the iron ore away from Furness to ironworks in Wales, Staffordshire, and elsewhere. Inevitably, the growth of Barrow's port precipitated the decline of Ulverston's port.

James Fisher and Sons Ltd is Barrow's oldest surviving firm. It was created in 1847 by James Fisher (who was born in 1822 in a farm house in Barrow) to ship iron ore and slate. By 1868 the company owned 70 ships, and acquired a shipbuilding and repair business in the Hindpool area of Barrow from Joseph Rawlinson. Many of James Fisher's fleet of wooden ships had previously been built in this yard under Rawlinson's ownership. In 1870, the shipbuilding activities were split off from the rest of the Fisher business, and the Furness Ship Building Company was formed. The first directors were James Fisher's eldest son Joseph, the previous owner Joseph Rawlinson, and John Hannay, Henry Schneider's partner. The office of James Fisher and Sons, ship owners and shipping agents, was at 29 Strand, and the new Furness Ship Building Company was at 32 Strand. The company built only one vessel, the Ellie Park in 1879, and the yard operated as a repair facility for the Fisher fleet until going into voluntary liquidation in 1899.

The Barrow ironworks was built in 1859. The Bessemer steel making process was adopted, and the capabilities of the steelworks quickly grew. In the 1870s the Barrow works were the biggest Bessemer steel producers in the world and employed over 5,000 men. Barrow grew from a population of 300 in 1847, to 42,000 in 1874, with the ironworks and iron shipbuilding yard being major employers. Iron production was greatest between 1866 and the late 1880s. The peak year for iron mining in the whole Furness area was 1882, when 1,408,693 tons of ore were raised.

The Duke of Devonshire bought the island of Old Barrow from the Michaelson family for the Furness Railway Company in 1863, for the sum of £170,000, and built an extensive dock system. Fifty acres of the Barrow Island land were then bought from the Railway Company as the site for a new shipyard for building iron ships. The Barrow Iron Ship Building Company was founded in 1870 to operate the shipyard. In 1873 its first ship, the steam yacht Aries, was launched from the new slipways. The steamship Duke of Devonshire was built for the Eastern Steamship Company Ltd for service between Barrow and Calcutta, and also launched in 1873.

James Ramsden was employed in the Engineering Department of the Furness Railway in 1846 at the age of 23. He became heavily involved in the construction of the railway, the development of the Barrow docks, ironworks and iron shipbuilding yard. In 1865 he became Managing Director of the Railway Company. James Ramsden became Barrow's first mayor, holding office for five years from 1867. In 1872, Ramsden was knighted by Queen Victoria for his services to the town. In the same year, his statue in Barrow's Ramsden Square was unveiled by the Duke of Devonshire. The bronze statue cost £1,500, and the polished red granite plinth cost a further £400, all paid for by public donations.

In 1882 thirteen merchant ships were launched at Barrow, a total of 45,000 tons. The iron shipbuilding yard also entered into warship construction. An early submarine to the design of Nordenfeldt was launched in 1886. In 1888 the shipyard was taken over by the Naval Construction and Armament Co Ltd, and in 1896 it was purchased by Vickers. The Vickers shipyard and engineering works were by this time the single most important industrial undertaking in Furness. By 1909 the shipyard employed 9,000 men, and in 1912 it employed 14,000 men. Note that women were not generally employed in shipbuilding and engineering at that time, and many of them found employment in the Barrow Jute Works, which in the late 1800s was the largest jute business in England.

The re-armament programme of the 1930's brought large ship construction orders to Vickers at Barrow, including aircraft carriers Illustrious and Indomitable, a cruiser and two destroyers. The war brought further orders for eight destroyers, a cruiser, two light fleet carriers, 87 submarines, 18 X-craft midget submarines, and the yard continued to produce merchant vessels. After the war Vickers built fine passenger ships at Barrow such as Oriana and Oronsay. From 1947 onwards steel shortages impacted on work schedules, but Vickers managed to build the 100,000 ton tanker British Admiral and the methane gas carrier Methane Princess. The experimental submarines Explorer and Excalibur were launched in 1954 and 1955 respectively, both powered by hydrogen peroxide. Britain's first nuclear powered submarine Dreadnought was launched by Her Majesty the Queen in 1960, and since then Barrow has been Britain's submarine-building centre of excellence.

See also:

Ordnance Survey Map images produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey. Copyright © and/or Database Right Landmark Information Group and Ordnance Survey Crown Copyright and/or Database Right 2002. All rights reserved.

Photos of Hermes, Dreadnought, Oriana & Invincible provided by Mike Helm.

Dreadnought being towed into Devonshire Dock following launch in 1960

Furness Railway & pit tramways

The first section of the Furness Railway was built to transport slate from the quarries at Kirkby down to Barrow, and opened in 1846. A single-track extension to Lindal was opened in 1851, and a further extension to Ulverston was opened in 1854. Lindal Railway Station was opened in 1851. The station had two platforms connected by an iron footbridge, the main station building on the southern platform, a waiting shelter on the northern platform, and an adjacent goods shed and signal box.

The Lindal Moor Tramway and sidings were built by Harrison Ainslie and Co. to connect the Lindal Moor mines with the Furness Railway sidings. Furness Railway trains ran via standard gauge branch lines directly to the major pit head areas, and narrower gauge trains and lines ran to most of the other mines. The sidings area became a large depot, used by all the mines around Lindal for many years. The railway was upgraded to twin-track through Lindal in 1857.

It is recorded that on the 22nd September 1892, Furness Railway locomotive No 115, a Sharp Stewart 0-6-0, was shunting wagons on the Lindal Ore Sidings when, without warning, subsidence created a 30 ft deep funnel-shaped hole. The locomotive rolled in, fortunately with nobody on board, but carrying driver Thomas Postlethwaite's jacket and gold watch. The 20 ton tender was saved from the edge of the hole. However, during the attempt to rescue the locomotive, the hole opened up further, the locomotive fell for hundreds of feet, and was a total loss. The hole was thought to have been caused by the Lowfield Pit workings which ran under the railway embankment, but this was never fully resolved. A further description of this incident can be found on the Heritage page.

The railway line still passes by the south side of Lindal. However, the Lindal Railway Station was closed on the 1st October 1951, after 100 years of service, and was demolished. The platforms, signal boxes, goods sheds, and sidings have been removed, and only a few remains of derelict railway buildings can still be seen by the current railway. You can also see some old buildings around the West Cumbria Farm shop that were once engine sheds. In the fields nearby, there are old crushing rollers and many spoil heaps.

The stone walls that once supported the Lindal Moor tramway where it crossed Pit Lane can still be seen between Mount Pleasant and the School. The embankment continues on either side of Pit Lane. A further embankment remains as evidence of the Old Hills Tramway, and can be seen running west to east on either side of the road to the south-east of Marton.

The Pinder Ring Pit, south of Lindal Cote, took its name from the field in which it was sunk. The pit was open from 1872 to 1890, and closed due to flooding. The pit buildings were demolished in 1905. Only a single sandstone support pillar remains as evidence of the tramway that crossed over the adjacent road to the nearby Grievson Pit.

See also:

For more information on the Furness Railway, see the excellent Furness Railway Trust site.

The Cumbrian Railways Association (CRA) site also contains information about the Furness Railway. The Association has published some well-written books on railways in the area, including 'The Furness Railway in and around Barrow' by Michael Andrews.

Decline of the Furness iron & steel industry

The Furness iron and steel industry started to face increased foreign competition in the early 1900's. Lindal Moor mines shut temporarily in 1904. The Furness Railway Company started to develop alternative sources of business, and focussed on developing the tourist trade. Following the Great War, the market for iron and steel collapsed, and the Furness iron industry declined severely. Special trains left Barrow in 1923 taking families to Canada, America, South Africa and elsewhere in search of a better life. Many of the remaining unemployed were put to work on special projects, such as building the new coast road between Ulverston and Barrow.

The Furness iron and steel industry recovered slightly in the second half of the 1930's, and demand increased again during the Second World War. However, the Ulverston ironworks closed in 1938, and its site was bought by Glaxo for a pharmaceuticals laboratory and factory. The ironworks site is now fully occupied by the factory, and the adjacent area once occupied by slag heaps has been turned into a sports ground for the factory employees.

In the 1950's, the Lindal mines were becoming exhausted and the mining companies could not compete with the cheaper imports of ore from other countries. Local mining conditions were harsh, rents and royalty payments were high, and mining throughout Furness drew to an end.

The last deep mine in production in the Furness area was Woodbine Pit at Newton, which went into liquidation in 1945. The last drift (shallow) mine in production in the area was the Margaret Mine at Henning Wood, Lindal. However, although the mine was still productive, the ore was soft and was not marketable. Margaret Mine was unprofitable and it closed in 1960.

The Barrow ironworks went through various changes of ownership and eventually closed down in 1963, and the remaining small steelworks closed in 1984. The ironworks site is now occupied by the Furness College campus, and numerous light industrial, office, retail and leisure units. There are public footpaths across the old slag heaps, which are grassed over and offer excellent views of Walney and the surrounding countryside. The Cocken Lake area is a pleasant place for a stroll and a picnic.

The Barrow shipyard and engineering works continued to expand and thrive, producing goods as varied as ships, submarines, boilers, naval guns, steam engines, cement kilns, and soap-making machinery. For most of the 20th Century the yard was widely known as "Vickers". Until the early 1990s it was the major local employer, and had its own extensive design offices, forge, foundry, joiners shop, mould loft, plate shops, assembly shops, etc. The yard in a considerably streamlined form is now part of the multi-national BAE Systems organisation, and specialises in the design and build of complex high quality ships, submarines, armaments, and engineering products.

See also:

Churches, farms & village life

The Lindal village green was originally a tarn, but was filled in with spoil from the mines and material from a local quarry in 1887 to create The Green. Until a few years ago, this area was used to graze sheep, but is now a public space that is used for leisure. The Green and neighbouring Buccleuch Hall accommodate the annual village galas and other special events.

There are four different farm houses and associated outbuildings around The Green. These are Drigg and Irton Church Farm (which dates from 1635), Lindal Moor Farm (late C17 - early C18), High Farm (1879), and Low Farm (1883). In addition, Pennington Church Farm and Townend Farm are just a few hundred metres to the south.

Many of the substantial sandstone and limestone buildings around The Green and elsewhere in Lindal and Marton were built for the mine managers, mine workers and their families, eg the school, reading rooms (now demolished in Lindal but converted to a house in Marton), several chapels (now houses or businesses), and the Buccleuch Hall. Yorkshire House, that is now Kurly's hair salon was once the village shop and post office.

Edward Wadham was the Buccleuch mineral agent from 1854 to 1913. His first home in the Furness area was in the house known as Lindal Mount, now the Old Vicarage in Lindal. He lived there until 1861 when he moved with his wife, Elizabeth Ainslie of Grizedale Hall, to the newly built Millwood House at the northern edge of Barrow. Lindal Mount then became the vicarage for St Peter's Church. In 1866, Wadham became a Councillor on the first Barrow Borough Council. He was a member of the Council for 31 years, including four years when he was Mayor.

Lindal-with-Marton Parish was created in 1872, due to the rapidly growing population. A temporary Iron Church was opened in 1875 in a field opposite the school, where School Terrace now stands. St Peter's Church was built to replace the Iron Church, on a site by The Green that had previously been occupied by a barn and a beer house, and was consecrated in 1886. The construction of St Peter's Church cost £3,600, funded mainly by the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch, the mining company Harrison Ainslie, and the Barrow Haematite Steel Company. The Iron Church continued in use for concerts and socials, until it was blown down during a gale in 1903.

The first Methodist chapel in the Lindal & Marton area was built in 1866 at Tarn Flatt. Due to rapid population expansion and a growth in Methodism locally in the 1860's, an additional Methodist chapel was built in 1871 on the site of an old orchard at Ulverston Road. Both chapels seem to have flourished initially, but attendances declined in the 1900's. The Marton chapel closed in 1960, and the Lindal chapel closed in 1985. Both buildings have since been converted to homes.

A Christian Meeting House was built on Pit Lane in 1875, but closed after 1945. The building was subsequently used as a laundry, then as a store for Marsh's pop, and now accommodates three homes.

There is a war memorial at the south end of The Green, and a matching war memorial in Marton. These were funded by public subscription and are made from Stainton limestone.

See also:

Aerial photos on our Memories page
Extracts from Edward Wadham's Diary 1850 to 1860
Edward Wadham memorial plaque in St Peter's Church
From tarn hamlet to green village (by James Melville)
Furness and District Year Books 1882 & 1936
Lindal-with-Marton Parish Magazine 1897 & 1898
Lindal Postcards from the Early 1900s
Lindal & Marton Directory 1912
Lindal Methodist Church Centenary Brochure 1971 (8MB PDF)
Lindal Methodist Church Historic Roll (23kB PDF - see notes below)
Lindal-with-Marton Parish Centenary Programme 1972 (1MB PDF)
Yorkshire House

The Lindal Methodist Church Historic Roll was provided by Brian Edge, accompanied by the following notes. Brian would be interested in hearing from anyone who can provide any further information regarding the list.

Ada Moyle was my Great Aunt and she and members of her family emigrated to the Transvaal in 1912.
Er Jowett is more than likely Ernest Jowett, a miner who lived at 18 Ulverston Road. *
James Hindle was a farmer and coal dealer who lived at 24 The Green.*
Mary Ann Loosemore (Lorne Terrace) died 17.2.1898 age 20 years.+
I do not know what "Off Ulverston Road" implies. Any thoughts?
References to Post Office seems to indicate that donations were sent to the Postmaster from away to pass on to the appropriate person.

* Bulmer's History of Furness etc 1911
+ Lindal & Marton Parish Magazine March 1898

The picture on the right of the Lindal Methodist Church is accompanied by the following text:
"In remembrance of those who during the past 70 years served God and this church. This stone was unveiled by Mrs W Ormandy and Mrs J Hindle." is the inscription on the porch stone. August 10th 1941.

Photo of Hannah and Clara Rice at Low Farm provided by John Reynolds, Winsford.

Photo of Edward Wadham provided by Dave Barlow, Lindal and Marton Primary School.

Picture of the Lindal Methodist Church provided by Brian Edge.

Recent history

The total population of Lindal and Marton counted in the 2001 census was 773.

There have been various small developments and improvements to village amenities over recent years, such as the creation of a new pavement on the west side of Pit Lane linking The Green with School Terrace and the school. The Green is no longer used as pasture, and is available for leisure activities.

Small groups of houses have been built in both villages. Some of them have names that give a clue about the previous use of the area, eg Vicarage Field, Vicarage Mews, The Paddocks, Drovers Court, The Plantation, and Low Farm Close. Some of the old roads have changed their names, for example Pit Lane was previously known as School Hill, and Sunny Bank was previously Fell Street.

It interesting to note which houses have been built in Lindal since the houses were originally numbered. For example, taking a walk around The Green, starting at the eastern side you will find number 1. Walking northwards you will pass a couple of new houses on your way to number 12, and then a further stretch of new houses which have names and no numbers. The two detached houses at the southern end of The Plantation are built in an old quarry, which was also the site of the local undertaker's workshop and the mines "Tommy Shop". There are three more new houses on the site of former woodlands at Mount Pleasant, and numbers 13 to 17 are also at Mount Pleasant. Head back on the opposite side of Pit Lane towards The Green and you will find Chapel House which is number 18. Numbers 19 to 22 are in Sunny Bank. Carry on down past the new houses in Parkside Close to The Green, and follow the numbering down the west side of The Green to Yorkshire House (Kurly's) which is number 36.

Some buildings on the above route have changed their use over the years, for example the houses in Queensberry Court were originally farm buildings belonging to Lindal Low Farm.

At one time there was a short row of cottages between the Buccleuch Hall and Low Farm, known as John Walkers. They can be seen on a 1960s aerial photograph (see above-left). These were demolished, and a new house built on the site of what was once the Post Office.

A number of buildings originally along the south side of the A590 have been demolished. The Lindal Liberal Club, also known as Bliss Hall (opposite the Anchor), became redundant and was demolished around the 1950s. The front gardens of the houses along the A590 to the east of the Anchor Inn were shortened or removed around 1937-38. The Police Station (on the eastern corner of London Road), and a row of buildings (west of London Road) which included several shops were demolished later. These are gone by the time of a 1960s aerial photograph, although the road widening had not yet reached the gardens at the end of Church Close (see right).

Several wind farms have been built in the area to the north and west of Marton, at Harlock Hill and Far Old Park Farm. These developments have been somewhat controversial, due to visual and noise impact. A further wind farm is proposed at Standish Cote.

One of the main employers in Lindal and Marton now is the Wax Lyrical candle factory, which has a gift shop and cafe for visitors. Other local businesses in recent times have included Kurly's hair salon, Duerden abattoir, several farms, Brown's Farm Shop, West Cumbria Farmers shop, Lindal Shed Centre, corner grocery shop, post office, bowling & cricket clubs, and the pubs.

The village grocery shop and the Post Office in Lindal both closed around 2000. The "Anchor Inn" on Ulverston Road closed in early 2009. The last public house in Marton was the "New Inn", which closed in January 2008.

"History" is being made all the time. Buildings and organisations appear and disappear. The landscape evolves. Decisions are made that affect the lives of current village residents and future generations.

In 1956, Jessica Lofthouse (ref 24) wrote of the area, "We do not look for the iron mines; we see the signs without looking, the slag heaps in green fields, the overgrown bloomeries, and everywhere the earth is a vivid, reddish brown." In the time since then, most of these signs have been obliterated from sight and from memory.

Sometimes Lindal and Marton residents make a significant mark in the local community or elsewhere. In recent years, two Lindal residents have been honoured by the Queen. Brian Ayres was awarded an MBE for services to the Defence Industry in June 2004, and Murray Easton was awarded a CBE for services to the Maritime Industry in January 2008.

We would like to capture whatever local information, memories, and pictures you may have. Please let us know about anything relating to the place or its people that you think should be recorded in this website for posterity.

The two aerial photos above are "close-up" sections of larger photos on our Memories page.

References

The following books were used as sources of information for the History pages:

1. Towns & Villages of Britain. Cumbria. Terry Marsh. 1999. Sigma Leisure. ISBN 1-85058-615-2.

2. The Red Earth. Dave Kelly. 1998. Trinity Press. ISBN 0-9534779-0-8.

3. Damned Un-English Machines. Jack Hool & Keith Nutter. 2003. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2781-4.

4. Underground in Furness. Eric Holland. 1960. The Dalesman Publishing Company.

5. The Barrow Story. Bryn Trescatheric & The Dock Museum. 2000. Barrow Borough Council Arts & Museum Service.

6. Furness Iron. Mark Bowden. 2000. English Heritage. ISBN 1-873592-47-7.

7. The Place Names of Cumbria. Joan Lee. 1998. Cumbria Heritage Services. ISBN 0-905404-70-X.

8. Barrow-in-Furness Official Guide. 1984 (approx). The British Publishing Company Ltd.

9. Barrow-in-Furness Official Guide & Street Plan. 2001. Burrows Communications Ltd.

10. Furness Railway 150. 1996. Cumbrian Railways Association. ISBN 0-9519201-2-X.

11. The Book of Furness. Bryn Trescatheric. 1993. Baron Birch. ISBN 0-86023-494-0.

12. Jottings of a Lindal Girl. Doris Edge. 1993. Brian Edge. ISBN 0-9516910-2-3.

13. Furness and the Industrial Revolution. JD Marshall. 1958. Barrow-in-Furness Library and Museum Committee.

14. The Iron Moor. Alen McFadzean. 1989. Red Earth Publications. ISBN 0-9512946-1-X.

15. Industrial Archaeology of The Lake Counties. JD Marshall & Michael Davies-Shiel. 1977. Michael Moon. ISBN 0904131-13-0.

16. Cumbrian Mining. Ian Tyler. 2001. Blue Rock Publications. The Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-9523028-6-1.

17. James Ramsden. Barrow's Man of Vision. Jack Kellett. 1990. Monksvale Press. ISBN 0-9516722-0-7.

18. Barrow and District. F Barnes. 1968 (reprinted 1978). Barrow-in-Furness Corporation.

19. The Story of Ulverston. Henry F Birkett. 1949. Titus Wilson & Son Ltd.

20. Geological Fragments of Furness and Cartmel. John Bolton. 1869. D Atkinson. Reprinted in 1978 by Michael Moon. ISBN 09-04131-20-3.

21. Geology and Hematite Deposits of South Cumbria. WCC Rose & KC Dunham. 1977. Geological Survey of Great Britain. HMSO. ISBN 0-11-880780-3.

22. Around the Coast and Across the Seas. Nigel Watson. 2000. St Matthew's Press. ISBN 0-9534101-2-9.

23. The Industrial Archaeology of South Ulverston. Rob Mckeever & Jack Layfield. 2004.

24. The Curious Traveller, Lancaster to Lakeland. Jessica Lofthouse. 1956. Robert Hale Ltd.

25. The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute. Volume LXIV No II. 1903. E & FN Spon Ltd. Ballantyne Press.

Photo of 'Secret Land, Secret Light' exhibition provided by Colony Gift Corporation Ltd. Exhibition ran from 2003 until 2006, and is now closed.

Copyright: © History of Lindal & Marton. All rights reserved. The material on this website is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce material from this website in unaltered form only for your personal or educational use.

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