Location Image

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.

Nearby Places View Menu
Location Image
166 m

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bridge was a swing bridge and then replaced by a pair of lift and roll bridges constructed between 1800 and 1884 then superseded by a more modern pair of bascule bridges in the mid-1960s.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.
Location Image
272 m

Royal Port of Barrow

The Royal Port of Barrow is an enclosed dock system in Barrow-in-Furness, England, comprising four docks. The port is owned and operated by Associated British Ports and is surrounded by Morecambe Bay to the east, and the Irish Sea to the south and west. The port estate incorporates key areas of the Barrow shipyard, one of the largest shipyards in the United Kingdom and the country's only submarine production facility. It also handles general freight traffic and occasional cruise liners for passengers visiting the nearby Lake District. The port was granted the title of "Royal" on 22 September 2025 by King Charles III, to reflect the town's contribution to national security.
Location Image
282 m

Craven House

Craven House (also known as Fisher House) is a large office building in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England located on Michaelson Road close to the eponymous bridge. Constructed in the 1960s the building is noted for its length of roughly 90 m (300 ft) and consists of seven floors making it one of the tallest storied buildings in the town. The gross floor area stands at around 8,100 square metres (87,000 sq ft). Craven House is owned by the Department for Work and Pensions through Barrow Borough Council and currently houses the town's principal Jobcentre alongside leasing office space to the headquarters of successful shipping company James Fisher & Sons - the only Barrow based company listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2003 the entire external fabric of the building was recladded and a further £1.7 million was spent in 2013 on refurbishing the inside of the building and installing a new roof. Craven House generates around £176,000 for Barrow Borough Council per annum, making it the largest individual commercial asset under the council's possession.
Location Image
300 m

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.