History of Barrow-in-Furness - Culture - Architecture

Architecture

See also: Listed buildings in Barrow-in-Furness and List of tallest buildings and structures in Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow is one of Britain's few planned towns and has many fine buildings to show for it. There are many old and distinctive buildings in the town centre, mostly from the Victorian era, such as the town hall, Barrow's main public library, the Nan Tait Centre, the old Central Fire Station, Salvation Army, St. George's Church, St. Mary's RC Church, St. James' Church and Trinity Church. A number of Barrow's most important landmarks were constructed from locally sourced sandstone, evident from the high number of brown and red coloured stone buildings in the town. There is also an increasing number of modern office buildings as well as the shipyard's construction halls which dominate much of Barrow's skyline. Despite much of Barrow having been constructed from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, architectural styles vary greatly across the town from the Art Deco John Whinnerah Institute to the Byzantine style St. John's Church, Neo-Elizabethan Abbey House and Tudor Revival Vickerstown estate.

Barrow has 8 Grade I listed buildings, 15 Grade II* and 249 Grade II buildings. The majority of Grade I listed buildings and structures are in and around the Furness Abbey complex while many Grade II* listed buildings in the town are 19th century tenements on Barrow Island including the Devonshire Buildings. There are a number of Conservation Areas across Barrow named as such for their architectural or historical significance, they include Barrow Island, Biggar, Central Barrow, Furness Abbey, North Scale, St. George's Square and Vickerstown. Historically Barrow's skyline was dominated by shipyard cranes and industrial chimneys, although little evidence of this remains in the present day with the last hammerhead crane - the iconic yellow crane of Buccleuch Dock - being dismantled in 2011, despite calls for listing status like the smaller Titan Clydebank in Glasgow. The tallest free-standing structure in Barrow is currently Roosecote Power Station's tower at 63 metres (207 ft) and tallest building is Devonshire Dock Hall at 51 metres (167 ft). Also worth of note are the turbines of Ormonde Wind Farm located just off the coast of Barrow which stand at 152 metres (499 ft), while the tallest storied building in the town is just under 40 metres (131 ft).

In terms of housing, the majority of dwellings in Barrow are Victorian terraces. At 47.0% of local housing stock in 2011, the figure is much higher than England's average of 24.5%. 29.7% of dwellings are semi-detatched, 12.09% detatched and 10.2% flats, maisonettes or apartments. Despite the great variety in housing styles across central Barrow, Barrow Island, Hindpool, and Vickerstown, most were built around a grid design in accordance with plans drawn up by James Ramsden.