Furness Abbey

Furness Abbey is a ruined abbey in South Cumbria, just outside Barrow in Furness. In its heyday it used to be the home of the Cistercian monks.

Location
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The abbey can be found on the A590, approximately 30 minutes drive from the M6 and there’s a small car park outside the visitors centre. There’s a regular bus service (6A) which passes within a 10 minute walk of the abbey entrance, and this bus can be caught from the nearest bus stop to the railway station in Barrow. There’s a less frequent service from Dalton in Furness and other towns along the A590.

Opening Times
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Easter to Summer 10am-5pm 5 Days a Week (closed Tuesday and Wednesday).
Summer to Autumn 10am-5pm 7 Days a Week.
Late Autumn 10am-5pm 5 Days a Week (closed Tuesday and Wednesday).
Autumn to Easter 10am-4pm Sat, & Sun.

Admission Costs
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Adult: £3.50
Children: £1.80
Concession: £3.00
English Heritage Members: Free.

The Abbey
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The Abbey was built in 1123. It was given to the Cistercian monks in 1147, and was once the second richest Cistercian abbey in England, after Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire.

It was built entirely from sandstone which was sourced from the local area, and many parts of the abbey are well persevered and stand majestically in place. It’s not hard to imagine how the site would have looked when it was complete.

The monks of the abbey were highly influential in the area, and their influence spread as far as the Isle of Man, which can be found off the coast of Barrow in Furness, in the Irish Sea. One of the Kings of Man is buried within the grounds of the abbey.

The abbey stood proud until Henry VIII took umbrage with the Pope and decided to destroy the Catholic Church and all its followers. The local story tells of how Henry’s soldiers missed the abbey because it is hidden from view in the Vale of Nightshade, but one poor monk rang the bell to sound the all clear far too early, and alerted the soldiers to its presence. The abbey and the monks were destroyed, and the ruins left for future generations to walk around.

Obviously being an abbey, there are no end of ghost stories, ranging from the sightings of mad monks, to white ladies. One of the tracks leading from the abbey is known locally as Lady’s Walk due to the sightings.


The abbey has had a few famous visitors; the most famous for locals is of course William Wordsworth, the Lakeland poet, famous for his Daffodils poem. He referred to the abbey in one of his later poems, The Prelude. The abbey was also visited by the Roosevelt family, where Teddy Roosevelt was seen running around the abbey grounds with his siblings.


You can use the audio guide when wandering around the grounds, which will give details of the various buildings which are still fairly whole (the chapel, the North and South Transept, the Chapter House and Dormitory). It also details where other buildings would have stood and how well developed the drainage and water ways were for the time.

Visitors Centre
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The visitors centre is small, but has a lot of information dotted around. It doubles as the shop, but the selection of items available is very small and expensive.
In the visitors centre you’ll find sconces and pieces of architecture and grave slabs that originally came from the abbey, but have been brought inside to avoid damage.

Facilities and Accessibility
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Wheelchairs users have full access to the visitors centre and to the abbey grounds. However, there are lots of slopes and no pathways around the grounds, so some people may need assistance.

For visually impaired visitors the audio guide is included in the ticket price, and for audio impaired visitors an audio tour with hearing loop is included in the price, and they also have the audio tour scripted if required.

Dogs are allowed in the grounds, although they must be kept on a lead, and obviously any mess must be cleared up.

There is a small selection of snacks, and people are welcome to bring picnics into the abbey grounds. Within a couple of minutes walk, you’ll find the Abbey Tavern which is a local pub that sells beer and meals.

My Thoughts
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Furness Abbey is a lovely abbey to visit, and because is fairly well preserved in parts, it makes it much easier to imagine how the area would have looked back in the 12th Century, and how life might have been for the monks.

The way the abbey is situated you will be driving up and thinking ‘where on earth is it?’ Then suddenly it’s right in front of you, it’s not hard to imagine that the local story about the soldiers missing is first time around could be true. After all, way back then there would have been no clear roads and the abbey would have been completely surrounded by trees.

As it is, once you get close, you might wonder if it’s worth paying the entrance fee, because you can see all of the grounds from the road. But you can’t get a proper feel for the place from the roadside, nor can you find out which bits are which, and what would have been happening in different areas of the abbey.

Although there’s a road running around the outside of the grounds, it’s not a busy road, so the whole area feels very tranquil (until the kids start yelling !!). It’s a great place to have a picnic, because there are plenty of open areas, and having the abbey as a backdrop is beautiful. During the spring, the area is surrounded by daffodils, and they look absolutely wonderful.

Along the side of the abbey there are a few walks that are very popular with dog walkers, and you can see some of the remains of out buildings that the monks once used on these walks.

Straight across the road from the abbey there’s a natural amphitheatre, now I don’t have good memories of this amphitheatre because it used to be part of our school’s cross country run! But this is also a great area to walk your dog, depending on the time of year you might have to have the dog on a lead due to sheep or cows being loose.

If you’re not picnicking or walking dogs, it probably won’t take more than a morning or an afternoon to visit the abbey. In fact it’s more likely to take 2 hours at most (presuming you stop to look closely at things), but it’s well worth a visit.