Ulverston before 1870 GAZ Ulverston

Economic Activity

The town's market charter was granted in 1280 for a market every Thursday. In 1671 Sir Daniel Fleming called it ‘a good market, especially for corne’. In 1874, The Local Board for the Town and Hamlet of Ulverston applied to the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry for permission to erect a covered market house.  Under the lease, the rights and privileges of Ulverston's free street markets and fairs were leased from the Duke, with a 999 years term. The Market Hall was officially opened in 1878. In 1935 a fire destroyed the original building, resulting in the present structure.

The town also contained a number of cotton and linen mills which worked well into the nineteenth century.  Shipbuilding was also carried out at Ulverston until the 1840s.

A canal connecting the town with the sea was constructed in 1793-6, and led to a considerable increase in the shipping trade, becoming the chief port from which Furness ores were exported. However, the canal became redundant after the opening of the railway and docks at Barrow.  The canal was formerly abandoned in 1945.

Ulverston was first served by the Furness Railway's line from Barrow & Dalton-in-Furness which was completed in 1854. There was a branch line to Conishead Priory, while a mineral line connected with the furnaces. Three years later the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway opened a line to Carnforth via Arnside and built a new through station which opened in 1857. The old Furness Railway terminus was subsequently used as a goods depot.

Places of Worship

The parish church of St Mary was founded in the 12th century, but rebuilt after 1540. All but the west tower was rebuilt again in 1804. In the medieval period, Ulverston was also the location of Conishead Priory, of which nothing now remains. The prior of Conishead established a chapel on Chapel Island, which stands approximately one mile off shore. Holy Trinity Church on New Church Lane was erected in 1832. Swarthmoor Hall became a centre for Quaker worship from 1652 and a meeting house was erected at Swarthmoor by George Fox in 1688. The Congregational church in Soutergate was built in 1778, and enlarged in 1847-8. A house was licenced for Baptist meetings by 1745 and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the Ellers was built in 1814.

In 1779 the Catholic Mission in Dalton relocated to Ulverston. A small chapel was built in 1806, followed by a church in Fountain Street (later Oddfellows'Hall), built in 1821. The Jesuits resigned charge of the mission in 1863.

Schools and Other Institutions

The grammar school at Townbank was first endowed with a legacy by Judge Fell in 1658. National Schools (one for boys and one for girls) were built by public subscription in 1834. An infant school was built on Church Walk in 1854 through public subscription and another school (mixed) was built adjoining the Wesleyan chapel in c.1863-4. A Catholic school was founded in the building adjoining the first Catholic chapel by Dr Everard.  A new school opened at Tarnside in 1824 and was extended in 1831.

Neville Hall was used as a workhouse until the construction of a new workhouse for the Ulverston Union. The original building was later adapted to become the town’s Police Station.  Ulverston Union Workhouse was opened in 1838 to accommodate 168 people. The building was situated in Stanley Street and in 1948 became part of the N.H.S. Ulverston Hospital. The building became redundant and was demolished in 2004.

A library was instituted in 1797.