VSEL Heavy Engineering Workshop

The VSEL Heavy Engineering Workshop located at Michaelson Road in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England is a Grade II listed former ammunitions workshop that belonged to Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering. Known locally as the 'Gun Shop' the vast complex was constructed in stages between 1875 and 1900 and consists of 42 by 11 bays (roughly 1,100 feet (335 m) by 360 feet (110 m) or over 9 acres (3.6 ha) of land - a larger footprint than nearby Devonshire Dock Hall). The building was a major component of the engineering division within Vickers and supplied the British Army and Royal Navy throughout World War I and World War II. Everything from basic shells to heavy duty gun turrets for ships, tanks and other land vehicles were produced and assembled at the workshop. The Historic England states the following of the building: 'It clearly indicates the scale of operation of the shipbuilding and engineering works at the turn of the century; its roadside frontages make a major contribution to the industrial scene in a town where the buildings of other major C19 industries have been almost completely swept away.' The Gun Works is now owned by BAE Systems which operates their Submarine and Land & Armaments divisions in Barrow.

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Devonshire Buildings

The Devonshire Buildings are two adjacent apartment buildings in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. They are both recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade II* listed buildings. Constructed in the 1870s for the Barrow Iron Ship Building Company to house local shipyard workers, the buildings are nearly symmetrical and have octagonal towers at the end of each block. The buildings are similar to tenements in Glasgow, Scotland, which were inspired by housing in France. Between 2008 and 2013 Devonshire Buildings were extensively refurbished by the Holker Group. Similar tenements exist across Barrow Island, with those on Barque, Brig, Sloop and Steamer Streets also having listed building status. The Vickerstown estate on Walney Island was constructed between 1898 and 1901 in an effort to relieve overcrowding in the Barrow Island tenements, which had already seen some shipyard workers forced to live aboard the liner SS Alaska, which was moored in Barrow docks.

Michaelson Road Bridge

Michaelson Road Bridge is a road bridge connecting Central Barrow to Barrow Island in south Cumbria, England. The original high-level bridge was a swing bridge and then replaced by a pair of lift and roll bridges constructed between 1800 and 1884 then superseded by a more modern pair of bascule bridges in the mid-1960s. It was built at a time when Barrow Island was actually an island and there was strong call for road access between mainland Barrow at the shipyard on Barrow Island. Traffic on the bridge was soon relieved when an old Victorian dock was filled in and space was created for the huge Devonshire Dock Hall complex, traffic now runs along the north side of the building on the A590. Trams formerly operated across the bridge, but now it solely used for vehicles and pedestrians. A second Devonshire Dock footbridge is planned in the multimillion-pound Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness development.

Devonshire Dock

Devonshire Dock is the oldest of the four docks which make up the Royal Port of Barrow in Barrow-in-Furness, England. Although the dock falls under the control of Associated British Ports it is currently solely utilised by BAE Systems. Upon completion of the dock, Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone stated 'Barrow would one day become another Liverpool'. Although its shipbuilding capabilities have exceeded those on Merseyside, the port and dock system itself never fully met James Ramsden's grand vision for the town. Construction of Devonshire Dock commenced in 1863 and was funded by the Furness Railway, which at the time controlled the new town's economy (iron ore extraction and transportation). Construction involved reshaping an existing narrow channel between Barrow Island and the British mainland and was completed in 1867, this was followed in 1872 by the adjacent Buccleuch Dock which was built to the same specification allowing vessels up to 200 metres (656 ft) to berth. A large portion of Devonshire Dock was filled in during the 1980s to create more land for Barrow's growing shipyard. The majority of the land is now occupied by Devonshire Dock Hall a large indoor submarine building complex that has enabled the construction of all Royal Navy Vanguard-class and Astute-class submarines.

St John's Church, Barrow-in-Furness

St. John's Church is a church on Barrow Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The church was built in 1934-1935 of concrete with green slate roofs in a modern Byzantine style. The architects were Seely & Paget. The interior incorporates elements from the earlier church on the site which dated from 1879.