A Customs Creek
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537 Piel Island and its castle became the property of the king. The castle's fortifications were strengthened at the time of the Spanish Armada but from then until the Civil War nothing of note happened on the island. The area of Furness was a Parliamentarian stronghold during the Civil War. For this reason the Parliamentarian fleet retreated to Piel Harbour when the Royalists captured Liverpool.
In 1662, following the restoration of Charles II, the lordship of Furness was given to the Duke of Albemarle and this included the castle and parts of the island. After this date activity on Piel seems to have revolved around shipping and industry. A salt works is recorded as existing on the island from as early as 1662, which was still apparently present in the 1690s.
Piel Island became an important trading post during the 18th century and customs men were permanently stationed there; smuggling was still rife at the time. In the second half of the 18th century the iron ore trade began to develop on the Furness Peninsula and the harbour continued to be important to the local economy. As the volume of shipping increased "His Majesty's boatmen" were stationed on Piel as harbour pilots and customs inspectors. Their cottages still stand, now used as summer residences by sailors.
In formal terms, it was a creek (outstation) of the port of Lancaster, and known as Piel Foudray.
In the 19th century the island was the subject of a poem by romanticist William Wordsworth.
Piel Island eventually fell under the ownership of the Duke of Buccleuch. He donated it to the people of Barrow-in-Furness in 1920 as a World War I memorial.
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