278 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



o-reat town of this district, however, and one of those which has grown with 

 astonishino- rapidity, is Barrow-in-Furness, near the southern extremity of the 

 Cumbrian peninsuUi, and at tlie oast of AValnoy Ishmd, which acts as a break- 

 water to its roadstead. In 1846 Barrow was a poor fishing village, but the 

 discovorv of pure hemitite ores led to the construction of iron and steel works. 

 Ship-building yards followed, jute-raills were established, and the small village 

 rapidlv grew into a prosperous town, with docks which admit the largest vessels 

 at any state of the tide. Da/ton, a few miles to the north of Barrow, lies in the 

 heart of the hematite iron district. Brougldon is a quiet town at the head of the 

 estuary of the Duddon, famous for trout and salmon. Farther inland, in the Lake 

 district, are Conisfon, delightfully situate at the head of Coniston Water and at the 

 foot of the Old Man, with copper mines and slate quarries near it, and Hawkshead, 

 a quaint market town at the head of Esthwaite Water. Archbishop Sandys and 

 Wordsworth were educated at its grammar school. 



Cartmel, in the eastern portion of Furness, has a famous priory church. Holker 

 Hall, a mansion of the Duke of Devonshire, lies in its neighbourhood. 



