Modern-day Roa Island
Roa Island has a population of about 100. Despite its moderate area it boasts a yacht club, a former hotel (The Roa Island Hotel built in 1849 and originally called the Pier Hotel), and a cafeteria, within which enquiries can be made about the ferry to Piel Island. Overlooking the sea with a south-facing aspect is Villa Marina. This house was built for the Furness industrialist H.W. Schneider as a holiday residence. Over the years it has served as a fisheries investigation laboratory and as army premises during World War II. It is now a hotel. On the lawn are seven cannon pointing out to sea. Other interesting buildings include Trinity Terrace, a row of terraced houses built to provide accommodation for the ten Trinity House pilots; and The Watch Tower, a Customs and Excise House built in 1847.
Roa Island is home to a lifeboat station of the RNLI, serving Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea. The station was established in 1864 and was known at the time as Piel (Barrow). In recent years it has been completely rebuilt and enlarged.
Local people have been critical that the tourism potential of Roa Island has been little publicised, whilst other more negative aspects of the local area have been more widely documented, for example in Channel Four's The Secret Millionaire.
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