Walney Island a history and heritage

Walney has a rich and deep history that dates all the way back to prehistory!

Across the island there has been many discoveries that bring to light its prehistoric past from Neolithic stone axes to beaker pottery and even Bronze Age antlers.

At the very northern tip of Walney a variety of Neolithic items have been discovered, including a polished axe made of Langdale Tuff. Sites in the Lake District, like Langdale, were places of axe production in Neolithic times where axes would be roughed out of the stone. These rough outs would then be taken to polishing sites away from the fells, North Walney is one of such sites. Sandstone and other course stones would be used to grind the rough outs until they become polished and usable. Once finished the items would be used as tools for varying jobs; killing animals for food, processing food, cutting down trees for use in settlements and scraping skins for tanning, to name but a few. As implements like this were so treasured in this time they were often placed at ritual sites, which is where they are frequently found today. Although some, like the polished axe found on Walney, are discovered where they were worked and most likely lost or discarded.

The name of the Island also has a route in history, Viking history infact. Walney is believed to originate from Old Norse, the tongue of the Vikings, although the island wasn't always named as such. Originally it was called Hougenai and is how it is named in the Domesday book. As well as the islands name many of its site names can be traced back to Viking origins, for instance North Scale from ‘Skali’ Norse for Summer Dwelling.

Across Walney are many scars of a Medieval farming past. From the north to the south many fields are covered in archeological features known as ridge and furrow. You can discover more about these features in the article entitled ‘Marks of a Medieval Farming Landscape, Walney’. Ridge and furrow are the remains of Medieval ploughing in field systems, which the peasants of the age would work on a near daily basis. Near by Furness Abbey would have been the owners of many of these field systems and the peasants would pay a tithe (one tenth of their annual produce) to the Abbey for the support of the church. The Abbey owned much of the land around Furness as well large swathes of land in the Lake District.

Jump forward a few centuries to the late 19th to early 20th century and Walney becomes very different. A large part of the island, just over the bridge today, was turned into Vickerstown. A brand new housing estate for shipyard workers. The houses were built to last and were in the Tudor Revival style. Many new terraces were constructed for the lower end of the work force but larger houses were also built for the mangers, and these overlooked the channel. The first thousand houses were completed in 1901 on streets named after ships that had been built in the shipyard. Names such as Mikasa and Vengeance Street. This was a huge change for the island and created an influx of inhabitants, which really saw the birth of modern Walney.

Over the coming decades Walney was set to face the effects of war. During World War 1 there was two military encampments in use on the island, one known as Hilpsford Fort, to the south, and one as Fort Walney, to the north. Each providing defence on the home front and providing jobs in the area. You can find out more about these forts in our previous blog 'World War I, the effects in Furness'.

During World War 2 there were also many military defences built across the island, from pill boxes to Coastal Artillery Searchlight Emplacements. All built to protect mainland Britain in case of enemy invasion. If you want to know more about these defences then please read our previous blog 'Remnants of World War II, the Military Defences of Barrow and Walney'.

A year after World War 2 and Walney became the basis for the made up island of Sador in the Thomas the Tank Engine books.

Writer Rev. W. Awdry needed a location to base his stories around that was in Britain but also isolated enough from the main railway systems of the country. On a trip to the Isle of Man Rev. Awdry discovered the Bishop there was known as the Bishop of "Sodor and Man" and that the island was in the Diocese of Sodor and Man. He realised that there was no island of Sodor like there is of Man. This gave inspiration to create a new island, Sodor, for his books.

He decided to place this new island between mainland Britain and the Isle of Man, right where Walney Island is. He took the east side of the islands outline but expanded it out to the west creating a much larger island. He did however keep some of the local names. The bridge to Sodor comes over from Barrow, as a bridge does for Walney, and the bridge arrives at Vickerstown, as it does at Walney.

A map of the Isle of Sodor (courtesy of Wikipedia). Note Barrow and Vicarstown to the right of the map.

As you can see Walney has a very vivid history, one that I have barely scratched the surface of in this blog. Hopefully, though, what I have shown is some of the interesting features and moments in this small islands history. Moments that helped to shape the island we know today.

Remnants of World War II, the Military Defences of Barrow and Walney

September 1st 1939, the World is at war for the second time. Great struggle and upset lies ahead for everyone including those on the home front in Barrow. With one of the biggest shipyards in the country, producing military vessels to aid in the war, Barrow soon became a target for enemy fire. Due to this, military defences popped up across the town and coastline!

From Sowerby to Walney and the docks of Barrow there can be found several dozen defence structures know as Pillboxes. So named because of their shape being reminiscent of the boxes pills used to come in, Pillboxes were a common feature across the country during the War. Erected as part of the British anti invasion preparations of 1940 they became essential for local defence. Designed in a hexagonal shape with small holes, known as loop holes, in 5 of the 6 sides with a door and two loop holes in the rear most side. These loop holes provided views in every direction perfect for keeping watch for enemy action. The structures were built with re-enforced concrete to protect the men inside from small arms fire and even grenade explosions! Pillboxes were constructed along the entire of the western coast of Barrow from Sowerby all the way down to the tip of Walney. These were to keep watch and protect the town from possible invasion from the Irish channel. Quite how well they would have worked as defensive structures is debatable but they certainly will have been vital look out posts that could quickly raise the alarm if enemy forces were spotted. As well as the many dotted along the coast of Barrow and Walney there were also several standing watch over the docks and shipyard to the south of Barrow and on Barrow Island. These were there to keep watch and possibly defend the shipyard, a prime target for enemy bombings. The town and shipyard were hit several times by incendiary bombs in a period between 1939 and 1941 known as the 'Barrow Blitz'.

During the war a different type of watch post was created to look out for incendiary fire and these were called Fire-Watchers' Posts. These posts were made by and for Vickers-Armstrong, the owners of the shipyard at the time, and were about six feet high and made of metal. There are two examples of such Fire-Watchers posts on Walney golf course. These structures are conical in shape with thin slits cut into the metal at intervals around its circumference. These were for the watcher inside to look out of and be able to see all around without leaving the structure. You may wonder why the slits were made so thin? Wouldn't it be easier to have bigger viewing holes like the Pillboxes? Well, no. As these were for looking out for fire the slits needed to be small so if a fire broke out around the post the fire couldn't get in through the viewing holes. When in use there would have been a door attached for entry and closing once inside but these have long since gone. The man stationed inside one of these posts would keep an eye out for fire and if one was to occur he would then go about extinguishing it using implements stored inside the structure with him. If you look inside one of these quirky little structures you will find some nice little features, after you get past the bottles and cans at your feet of course. Inside the one pictured here is a rusted hook attached to the wall, to the right of the entranceway, once used for hanging up the jackets of the watchman on duty. There is also a thin rusted rod that is hanging down from the wall, what this was for exactly is unclear but it's certainly interesting to see and ponder.

Not far from the Fire-Watchers post pictured is several more defensive structures that were once associated with a much larger complex known as Fort Walney.

Sitting on the edge of the golf course, looking out to the sea ahead stands one of three Costal Artillery Searchlight Emplacements that Walney still has standing. Although used and modified during the Second World War the Searchlight Emplacements on Walney actually date back to World War 1. They were constructed sometime around 1914 but were modified for use during World War 2. The large curved opening at the front of the emplacement is where a searchlight would have been situated to shine out to the sea and sky ahead; looking out for
enemy action. Not far away from the Searchlight pictured is another, somewhat identical one, sat on a rise above one of the golf course greens. Again it looks out to the sea ahead of it. Both these concrete creations were once associated with a larger Battery Encampment known as Fort Walney. This once impressive encampment stood behind the two searchlights; alongside the current Coast Guards watch tower. The tower was originally part of the encampment but without its brick facing. The encampment spanned about 300 metres by around 130 metres and held with in many concrete structures and weaponry for use in defending the island and, of course, Barrow. There is evidence left today of parts of this battlement including the metal and concrete base of a Spigot Mortar, a type of weapon that could fire explosives over short distances. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your outlook, the rest of Walney Fort has been demolished and lost to the golf course.

To the South of Walney, where the nature reserve is today, was another Battery Encampment known as Hilpsford Fort. This fort includes another searchlight like the ones already mentioned as well as several anti invasion weapons. On visiting the site you can find evidence of such weaponry with the concrete and rusted metal remains of their bases. The fort was constructed in 1914 for the First World War and had been mostly demolished not long after that war ended. By 1940 the site was needed again and construction work took place to bring it back to life, adding the gun placements and new concrete buildings. It was often used for training purposes with local Home Guard volunteers undertaking various courses here. As Fort Walney almost all of Hipsfort Fort has been demolished only leaving the odd concrete remain, which can be found amongst the nesting seagulls on the nature reserve.

There is so much history relating to World War 2 throughout Barrow and across Walney that it would take several posts to take a look at every feature and every story there is! I hope that this has been an interesting insight into some of the military defences that still stand proud, and some not so proud, across the town today. These various concrete and metal structures might not seem like much but they were the front line of defence for the town, the shipyard and even the country!

Some of the many pillboxes dotted around Barrow and Walney

Top 4: Sowerby     Bottom Left: Walney      Bottom Right: Barrow Island

Left: The View from a searchlight on Walney         Right: A second searchlight on Walney

Left: A fallen pillbox with Walney in the background         Right: A gun mount on Barrow Island

Marks of a Medieval Farming Landscape, Walney

Walney is a beautiful and picturesque island sitting just off the coast of Barrow. Today it is bustling with houses, caravan sites and the like but back in the Medieval period many parts of the island were covered in rich and fertile fields!

  

During the period Furness Abbey owned much of the land on Walney and they would take tithes from the various fields, tended by locals. In the present day you can find evidence of the extensive Medieval farming in the form of, well, fields! Not just normal fields though, many of the grassy plains are covered in the archeological feature known as ridge and furrow. These are the scars from a form of ploughing that was popular throughout the Middle Ages. In that time though there were no fences marking out the edges of fields, an open field system was used instead.  Manors, in this case Furness Abbey, would have owned large amounts of land and this land was split into strips. Peasant family's were then given different strips of land of which they could tend. Oddly though each family's different strips were not often next to one another. They could be interspersed with other family's strips, making it a little difficult to work them quickly. The lot of a Medieval peasant was not an easy one, working extremely hard day in day out for not much return. The defining feature of these strips was that they did not have boundary fences and this is where the 'open field' name comes from.

Walney golf course has many ridge and furrow features running across it and they are easy to see from the road side, near to Walney secondary school. The picture above shows the features clearly.

Even more evidence of farming can be found cut though the base clay on certain areas of the Walney coastline. Features like the one pictured right are quite common. These features are drainage ditches dug into the clay. Rich fertile soil would have sat above this clay where crops could be grown, but if water sept through the soil and hit the base clay it couldn't go anywhere thus making the land soggy and useless. To prevent this happening the peasant farmers would dig down through the soil and into the base clay to create long ditches along their field strips. These ditches were then filled with gravel or, in some cases, large stones were placed along their edge with cap stones sitting across the top of them. Once filled the ditches would be covered over again with soil. With these now in place any water would drain through the soil and into the ditches where it could slowly drain away through the gravel and seep off to other areas. These ditches were quite ingenious and would have been truly vital for farming on Medieval Walney. Especially as there was often a lot more rain fall in the period than we have today as well as some very harsh winters.

Elsewhere on the Walney's coastline there is another, final, remnant of farming gone by; a field boundary (pictured left). This boundary consists of a large mound and ditch. This feature would have marked the boundary of one large field, the smaller strips siphoned off with in. A large ditch was most likely dug along the edges of the fields to, as the smaller ditches, help with drainage. This ditch though would have no doubt been visible on the original earth surface.

There will be many of these features, both drainage ditches and boundaries, hidden beneath the ground and under vegetation all across Walney. The ones shown here are only visible now due to coastal erosion. The sea has slowly, and in recent times rapidly, eaten away at the soft earth to reveal the peat and clay below. Go back even a hundred years and some of these features would still be covered by soil and grass. Although erosion is ever changing our coastlines and causing no end of trouble, it does bring to light some of the wonderful heritage hidden beneath the ground!

The marks of a Medieval farming landscape across Walney are vast and fascinating. Imagine the peasant families of old going out everyday to tend their strips of land, battling the winds and harsh weather, moving oxen to pull a plough through the earth, slipping and sliding on the mud. It must have been an extremely hard life, all to grow crops for the Abbey and not to receive much back for your own plate. Although it must have been hard, the farmers were well versed in what they had to do and no doubt made it look relatively easy. Thanks to them though we have these wonderful remnants to discover across the countryside and if it wasn't for them the area may be a lot different today.

Come back on May 13th for the next blog post.