place

Ramsden Square

History of Barrow-in-FurnessProtected areas of CumbriaStreets in Barrow-in-FurnessUse British English from October 2017
Ramsden Square 1
Ramsden Square 1

Ramsden Square is a square located at the intersection of Abbey Road and Duke Street in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It marks the boundary of the Central and Hindpool wards and now acts as a major roundabout. Ramsden Square was first laid out in the 1840s to act as a focal point of Sir James Ramsden's master plan for the new town of Barrow, separating its burgeoning industries and commercial core. The centerpiece of the square is a statue of Ramsden himself while it is framed by a number of historic buildings including Barrow Central Library, the National Westminster Bank Building and formerly the Barrow Jute Works.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ramsden Square (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 54.114 ° E -3.231 °
placeShow on map

Address


, Hindpool
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Ramsden Square 1
Ramsden Square 1
Share experience

Nearby Places

Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library
Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library

Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library (more usually known as Barrow Central Library or Barrow Library) is a Grade II listed Beaux-Arts style building located at Ramsden Square, Barrow-in-Furness, England. Operated since 1974 by Cumbria County Council, it is the largest library in the town and the present structure, designed by J A Charles was originally built as a Carnegie library with support from the Carnegie Foundation.The first library in Barrow was opened on 18 September 1882 in temporary iron buildings in Schneider Square; in 1887 this was transferred to a room within Barrow Town Hall. The growing population meant that a larger building was needed and this was eventually met by the construction of the present accommodation at the junction of Abbey Road with Ramsden Square. The building itself bears a date of 1915 (denoted by an engraving by the main entrance which reads 'ANNO DNI MCMXV'), although delays brought about by World War I meant that it wasn't actually completed and opened until 1922. The library formerly housed the Furness Museum which held artefacts both from across the world and also from the local area. The museum (always operated by Barrow Borough Council) was opened in 1930 in an upstairs lecture room. It closed in 1991 and most of the exhibits were eventually moved to larger purpose built premises next to Walney Channel - the Dock Museum. After building modifications in 1998, the library has also worked with the Cumbria Archive Service in the joint operation of a local archives or county record office branch. This now shares a public searchroom together with the local studies library. Besides the Central Library there are currently five other libraries in the present borough: Askam, Barrow Island, Dalton, Roose and Walney. A sixth branch at Ormsgill has now been replaced by a library link facility in Ormsgill Children's Centre

Barrow Jute Works
Barrow Jute Works

The Barrow Jute Works was a jute and flax mill located in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria), England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The mill was built for the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company which was founded by James Ramsden in 1870 in an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy which was heavily focused on iron and steel production. The Jute Works itself was designed by architects Paley and Austin and occupied over 12-acres with a 580 feet (177 m) facade on Hindpool Road and 360 feet (110 m) along Abbey Road. The mill was served by its own railway station on a branch of the Furness Railway which connected it to the town's docks, steelworks and cornmill.The mill's all female workforce peaked at 2,000, many of whom were Irish immigrants. The jute fabrics produced were used for a wide range of items including telegraph cables, ropes and artificial hair, later including the production of Kalemeit for carpets, rugs and window drapery. The quality of produce was acknowledged in 1878 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France where the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company was awarded a gold medal in the field.Two fires damaged the works during its history - 1879 and 1892, the latter occasion destroying half of the mill that was never rebuilt. Competition from the Indian jute trade as well as the large jute works in Dundee led to the mill's ultimate demise. Barrow Jute Works' iconic chimney was demolished in 1930, followed by the offices in 1948. The site is now occupied by Hindpool Retail Park having also previously contained the Barrow Corporation Bus Depot up until its demolition in the 1980s. The southernmost part of the site fronting Abbey Road contains the former John Whinnerah Institute and Lakeland Laundry building.