A Chapel, A Hotel and A Lost Railway Station - A Walk By Furness Abbey

In our previous post Fading Faces and Medieval Quarries we took a look at the interesting features in the Amphitheatre next to Furness Abbey. In this post we will look at the other intriguing sites and features that lie elsewhere around the Abbey complex by taking a little walk.

To the West of the Abbey itself is Manor Road, this is where we start our walk. As you go along Manor Road, towards the Abbey, thick sandstone walls tower up above you on either side of the track below. These imposing remains are that of the West Gate, one of but a few entrances to the Abbey complex. Looking closely at these ruins you can see the indentations where the Medieval gates would once have been. Looking up you can also see evidence of a first floor above the gates. There are spaces for windows and/or doors. Quite how one would enter the room above is unclear, there isn't any remaining stone stairs but maybe a wooden stair case or ladders were used to reach the first floor. Extending off of these impressive ruins is the boundary wall that stretches around the entire Abbey precinct.

As you carry on along Manor Road you reach the Abbey itself, at this point we will take a left and walk along Abbey Approach. Not long down this road you will see a quaint little building sitting just inside the iron fence surrounding the Abbey. This is the Victorian ticket office where tourists of the period, and locals alike, would enter the ruins, paying at this office. This little hut has become as synonymous with the Abbey as the ruins. Even though it is such a small building it does have a fire place to provide heat for whoever was sitting inside, you can see the chimney on the roof giving evidence to this. Imagine what  it must have looked like with smoke billowing from the chimney as people dressed in their finery walked by into the Abbey.

Carrying on along the road you come to the Abbey car park and next to this on either side of the road are the remains of the Abbey's main gate. Although there are only low ruins left this must have been an impressive building in it's day holding several gates within. It appears as if there would have been some sort of three gate system which visitors to the Abbey would have to pass through. There are doorways between each gate presumable for visitors to leave through having dismounted their horse or left their carriage. On the right of the road, heading away from the Abbey, are the best preserved and most visible parts of the ruin but to the left, hidden amongst the undergrowth, is even more remains of this building. There appears to be at least one large room expanding away from the road which one would imagine lay people might be stationed to assist any visitors attempting to enter by this gate. It is a shame that these covered parts of the ruin aren't more exposed for us all to see but at the same time the fact they are covered could well be protecting them. It is also a shame that the modern road runs through the gate house as cars often clip the ruins causing a fair amount of damage.

Past the gatehouse sitting next to the Abbey car park stands the impressive sandstone building known as the Abbey Tavern. What can be seen today is in fact only one wing of what was a much larger building. In the 17th Century the current building wasn't in existence but a similar looking building, although with more decoration, was situated around where the Abbey visitor centre is today. This building was the manor house of the Preston Family. The Prestons left the house by the 19th Century and it remained empty until 1847 when the Furness Railway Company bought it. In Victorian times the Abbey became a hot spot for tourism so when the Railway Company bought the building they transformed it into a hotel which was, unsurprisingly, called the Furness Abbey Hotel. In 1846 the Furness Abbey Railway Station was opened next to the brand new Furness Railway. This station was situated a few meters from the Hotel. By 1862 the Station started receiving passengers from further afield and with this the hotel was extended north to meet with the Station. The Abbey Tavern was part of this extension and was built to mirror the earlier building. The two buildings were joined on their east side by a smaller building running south. If you look at the rear of the Tavern, from the Abbey car park, you can see the roof line of the joining building which is now long gone. Both the Station and the Hotel shut sometime during the 1900s and were both demolished soon after. Of course the North Wing of the Furness Abbey Hotel was left and this is what can be seen today.

Carrying on past the Abbey Tavern we come to some more Medieval ruins, these particular ruins are that of the Abbey's public chapel and associated gates. The precinct wall would have joined the chapel and carried on past the attached gates. The gates, one large for horse drawn carts and one small for humans, allowed access into part of the Abbey complex. Although there was a further wall extending south off of the Chapel to meet with the larger main gate, this was to prevent the general public from getting into the main Abbey

site. The public were aloud into this area though so that they could go to services led by the monks in the Chapel. The monks could enter from a separate door behind the boundary wall. You can freely enter the Chapel ruins today and see the various features with in. The modern road also runs through the arched gateway next to the Chapel. The Chapel and gates are wonderful fragments of history and are great to look around but they only give a taste of what lies inside the Abbey, so why not pop into the Abbey while you are here? 

From the Chapel by the gate we will now head back by the Abbey and when we reach the Manor Road turing we will carry on straight along the Abbey fence. As we go we pass the trackway, on the right, that once led to a quarry, which we spoke of in our Amphitheatre blog. We then reach the Custodian's Cottage, which we also spoke about last time but since then a photo has been obtained by Jackie, who currently runs the cafe there, of a family in front of the Cottage around 1890-1900. We have been given permission to show this image so here it is. Amazing to see a family who once lived in the Cottage. It is reasonable to assume that the man in the picture was in fact a Custodian at the Abbey, as this was the house for Custodians, but, of course, we can't say for certain. Either way it is a lovely photo showing the building in an earlier life.

It is also worth noting that to the front of the Cottage, just before the car park, hidden beneath the ground is a Medieval track way! The track was discovered several years ago when a new cycle path was being put in. Not far beneath the surface was a wide stone cobbled track or road leading in a diagonal direction across the cut of the new cycle path. This track would once have been part of the Abbey complex most likely leading to and from the ancillary buildings that would have once sat in the Amphitheatre. Picture courtesy of Gill Jepson.

From the Cottage we take a right down a footpath which soon crosses the railway. Having crossed the railway we enter a large field of which we will also walk though. In this field is where the Abbey fish ponds once were and part way through the field is the precinct wall cutting it in two. We carry on past the wall along the edge of Mill Beck stream until we reach the three arched Bow Bridge. This bridge was built in the 15th Century and would have carried a packhorse route. This route may well have lead to the Abbey but quite where it would enter the complex is uncertain. There doesn't appear to be a gateway or gate house in the precinct wall in the adjoining field but there could well have been. Because the railway's construction has cut part of the precinct wall out means we will never know for certain what the wall once did in that spot. There may well have been a gate there.

It is at Bow Bridge that we end our little walk around the Furness Abbey site to look at some more of the lesser known features. This area is bursting at the seams with history from Medieval times through to the present. There is no doubt earlier history too but it is less explored by archaeology. Recently though prehistoric flints were found while stabilisation work was being undertaken at the Abbey and in the past a carved metal Viking head as well as a Roman statuette have been found in the area. This may give evidence of earlier occupation in the valley but it is by no means concrete.

Join us next time when we will be taking a look at a Medieval Priory set in the idilic village of Cartmel.

Old Photos of the Furness Abbey Hotel and Station

Left: Furness Abbey Hotel    Right: Furness Abbey Low Station

Left: Furness Abbey with Hotel and Station Behind    Right: Furness Abbey Hotel with Station

Promotional Material for Furness Abbey Hotel showing images of the interior

Fading Faces in Medieval Quarries - The Amphitheatre Next to Furness Abbey

Many people will know of Furness Abbey, the stunning red ruins that expand from the earth in majestic beauty, but you may not know some of the heritage that is hidden in the land surrounding it. In this post we will explore some of the interesting areas that lie just off the beaten path around the great natural Amphitheatre from medieval quarries to the Custodian's Cottage, the last remaining building from the time of the Abbey to still be in use today!

Spreading out from the Abbey ruins is the appropriately named Amphitheatre. This area of land is so named as nature has created a large curving bowl, with large steep sides sweeping around the land below forming part of the valley of Beckansgill. In and around the Amphitheatre there are many interesting features that hint at the Medieval construction of the Abbey itself. To the far left of the Amphitheatre, as you look from the nearby car park, there is an area of trees sitting on the slope. If you were to strip away these trees you would find the remains of a quarry once used by Monks to cut stone for the Abbey walls. You can visibly see two track ways that extend out from this quarry. One sits about half way up the slope and curves around the Amphitheatre while lowering to ground level where it ends at the foot of the slope. Another is just at the top of the slope and curves right around the area to another patch of trees on the right, we will talk about what lies in these trees later. As well as the two tracks there is a distinct ditch that runs down the slope from the top track to the bottom one. It is uncertain what this is but could it be where stone, dragged from the quarry along the top path, was lowered to the bottom path to then be taken down to the Abbey?

One of the most notable features that can be seen stretching across the top of the Amphitheatre is the impressive Abbey precinct wall. This wall, built of the same red sandstone as the Abbey, marks the limit of the main religious precinct. To gain entry beyond these walls in to the precinct required vigorous checks and not any old person was allowed in! Over by the Abbey car park there are the ruins of a three gate, gatehouse, which any visitor would have to pass through one gate at a time. In Medieval times the floor of the Amphitheatre would have been littered with various Abbey ancillary buildings including a brewery and bake house. Unfortunately any evidence of these buildings on the surface has been destroyed when the area was flattened for a rugby pitch many years ago. Who knows what buildings could be hidden beneath the surface!

As mentioned earlier there is another area of trees on the right of the Amphitheatre, just next to the Abbey. Within these trees can be found the chisel marked stone faces of another Medieval quarry! As the other quarry the monks would have cut the sandstone from these rocky out crops and take them to the Abbey for use in the walls. The amazing thing with this quarry is that you can still see the chisel marks from the Medieval quarrying clear as the day they were first cut. It really is quite brilliant and gives a real connection to the past! Also with in this quarry you can see two heads carved into the soft stone. These carvings are believed to date back to Medieval times also. One is in better condition than the other but they can both be seen clearly amongst the chisel marks. Leading away from the quarry are the remnants of a track way used to drag the stone from the quarry down to the Abbey construction site. The track splits through the landscape heading down to the current road and is easy to see amongst the trees. These little hints of the early days of the Abbey are wonderful and personally they are some of my favourite things to look at as there is such a strong connection to the people who worked so hard to build the Abbey!

The Abbey Mill Cafe, previously the Custodian's Cottage, is a well used and well loved place but in the days of the Abbey the building would have looked a lot different. This building was constructed in the Middle Ages and was one of the ancillary buildings of the Abbey. On both sides of the building at ground level you can see window frames and door frames half covered by the earth. The whole cottage has sunk 4 feet into the ground since the structure was built, much like the Abbey has. This is due to the fact that the Cottage and Abbey were built on once marshy land so the weight of the structure on the damp ground pushed the stones down leaving the building as it is today. Inside the building you can also see where the original second floor would have been, now a couple of feet above the floor.

It is often thought that the Cottage was a mill but this isn't actually true as there is no evidence to point to this. It is currently believed that it would have been the Lay Stewards Hall, a much more significant building. The Lay Steward would have looked after the financial aspects of the Abbey. Evidence points to the cottage having once been a much bigger building. Remains of door frames at the second floor level suggest that the building would have extended out further to the rear and to the front. It is theorised that it would have been three times the size it is today creating a longer rectangular building. Hidden under the earth around the Cottage is a blocked watercourse, which could once have put the building on an island! Man hole covers in the grounds give an idea of the direction of this watercourse.

To the rear of the building amongst the long grass is a large, low, arch. This arch is thought to have been erected in Victorian times. No one is sure what exactly it was for but it may have just been a garden feature, made to look 'pretty'.

Across the railway tracks from the Custodian's Cottage is a large field split down the middle by the ruined precinct wall. Outside of the precinct wall is Bow Bridge, a 15th century construction used to cross the stream, but inside the wall is the site where the Abbey fishponds would have been. Look closely in the base of this field and you can just about see some faint earth works, these are thought to be the remains of the fishponds. After heavy rain this area can often fill up with water amongst the earth works. Fish was a large part of the monks diet as meat was generally forbidden (accept for certain occasions) so breeding fish on site was a very useful thing to do.

There is such a huge amount of hidden heritage in the area surrounding Furness Abbey that it is difficult to compile it all into one blog post, this post has looked specifically at the Amphitheatre but there is so much more to see in other areas. Hopefully in a later post we shall look at the other areas so keep an eye out for that.

The next blog will be online on 26th November and will take a look at Ulverston Canal, until then why not go in search of the sites we have written about here? Let us know if you find anything we may have missed!

Images from around the Amphitheatre:

Medieval trackway from one of the Quarries

Believed site of the Abbey Fishponds

The Abbey Valley. The base of the Amphitheatre, one quarry in the trees on the right.
The Fish Ponds Field behind the Railway 

Furness Ghost Stories - Halloween Special!

In this special blog post we will take a brief look at some of the ghost stories from around the Furness Peninsula. Be sure to read with the lights off!

Furness Abbey - Apparitions and Hooded Figures

Furness Abbey has been linked to many spooky tales since its dissolution in the 16th Century but we will only look at two here.

It was new years eve 1980 when a young man was peddling away on his bike to get home after finishing work at the Abbey Tavern. As he was in a rush to get to a party he decided to go home by cycling past the ruins, usually he would avoid the ruins by heading straight out onto Abbey Road. He quickly got by the ruins only glancing at them once. As he came to the junction he headed off up towards Rating Lane along a dark and poorly lit road. When he reached the ruins of the West Gate, that towers above either side of the road, a strange feeling came over him. He looked up to see the shadow of, what he believed to be, a cowled monk on horse back. The figure held his gaze for a moment until car headlights on Rating Lane broke his stare and he peddled off hard and fast! There have been several sightings of a monk wandering towards this broken archway over the years, who could this mystery monk be?

On many occasions apparitions of monks have been spotted amongst the haunting ruins of Furness Abbey leaving witnesses baffled and frightened.

Image taken from North West Evening Mail newspaper.

Original Image by Roy Chatfield

A photographer has even caught on camera what he believes to be a ghost in the Abbey grounds. The man had taken many images of the Abbey one day but when he developed the images he was shocked to discover one of them had a white hooded figure standing in it, near to the church tower. The photographer swears that no one was there on the day and he didn't see anything through the viewfinder on his camera when he took the picture. The image was also taken on a 8 second exposure which would blur someone who happened to be walking by! You can see the image to the right, what do you think? Is it a monk or is it something else all together?

The Custodian's Cottage/Abbey Mill Cafe - A Ghostly Face and Buried Body

The former Custodian's Cottage next to Furness Abbey, now the Abbey Mill Cafe, also holds some ghostly stories of its own. Many years ago when the cottage erupted in flames local firemen descended on the site to tackle the blaze. While they fought to tame the fire many of the firemen claim to have seen a young girl at the top window of the building. Due to this they were certain that they would find a body in the fire damaged carcass of the building but when they searched the rubble no body was found. Was the face they saw in fact the spirit of a long dead girl who once lived at the Cottage? Who can say! But what is interesting is that once, when a psychic visited the Cottage she could sense something beneath the floor. Today the large main room of the Cottage has a wooden floor but 7+ years ago you had to step down a few steps to reach a concrete floor. When this psychic came she stood on the concrete floor and could sense that, in the far right hand corner of the room, there was a body buried 4 feet under the ground. If you were to measure from the actual ground level outside this would be 6 feet. The interesting thing about this though is that she claimed it was the body of a child! It does make you wonder if this could possibly be the body of the young girl who was seen at the window when the Cottage burnt down!

Dalton-in-Furness - Haunted Pubs and Highways

It is thought that a building has stood in the place now occupied by the Brown Cow Inn in Dalton since the Middle Ages and this has led to several ghostly tales being told. One such story, which has not been noted since the 19th Century, is of haunting chanting being heard coming from the direction of the Abbey. This chanting was often accompanied by the sound of a church bell ringing which led witnesses to believe it was the Monks of the Abbey singing. Another story from the Brown Cow involves witnesses seeing a strange apparition. Back before the interior of the pub was open plan as it is today a man took his drink into one of the small rooms to sit at one of the wooden tables. On entering the room he was rather surprised to find an oddly dressed stranger sitting in a seat near the window, staring out through the glass as if he was looking and waiting for someone or something outside. The figure sat quite still not making a sound. The man who had entered the room greeted the stranger but was met with no reply. Later when the man left, returning to the bar he asked the landlord about the strange fellow in the other room. The landlord informed the man that no one, other than him, had entered the room that night. When the curious landlord accompanied the man back to the room they found no one inside, much to the mans surprise! There was no way that the stranger could have left the room without being seen or heard!

A young man of the name Tom, who lived in Dalton, once worked in the mines at Roanhead. One morning when he was cycling to work by Millwood he saw another man cycling towards him on the other side of the road. The other person was middle aged wearing a grey suit and a brown trilby hat, nothing too unusual for the time. Tom continued to cycle along not thinking much of it. Suddenly, when the two were only a few yards from one another, the other person suddenly steered his bicycle directly at Tom! Tom broke hard and almost fell off his bike swerving away from the other man. When he turned around to give the man what for he was shocked to find the road empty of life. There was nowhere the other man could have gone to hide; he had completely vanished!

Other Stories

Shadowy figures and loud bangs have all been associated by employees at BAE Systems, in Barrow, to the spirit of a worker who had killed himself.

A couple who were traveling through Leece one evening had to slam on the brakes and come to a stop. A large black creature was sat in the middle of the road stopping them from getting past. The creature stood about 2 meters tall and had bright yellow eyes! Eventually the beast stood and walked off the road allowing the couple to drive by. It stood on the grass verge watching as they went.

In 2009 the North West Evening Mail ran a small article about Abbots Wood house, which included a picture from inside the house. On publication though many readers wrote in as they had noticed something in the far right of the interior image. There was the ghostly shape of a woman stood behind a table! Could it be the ghost of a previous occupant? Who can say but with the house no longer standing her home is long gone. Here is the picture for you to view; can you see the ghostly figure?

Image courtesy of the North West Evening Mail
Originally printed in 2009

We hope you have enjoyed this special spooky edition of Furness Hidden Heritage, if you know of any other ghost stories from the Furness area please let us know and we may use them next Halloween! Business as usual with the blog will resume on 12th November so be sure to check back then for a post on the area surrounding Furness Abbey. Until then happy Halloween and sleep well!

Read more Furness ghost stories in our second Halloween special here - https://furnesshiddenheritage.blogspot.com/2013/10/furness-ghost-stories-halloween-special.html