Barrow-in-Furness [key], city and district, Cumbria, NW England, on the tip of the Furness peninsula. The port of Barrow has c.300 acres (121 hectares) of docks, and shipbuilding is an important industry, although much reduced in scale now. Barrow is also one of the principal engineering cities of Britain. There are diesel-engine factories, smelting works, sawmills, flour and paper mills, and industries associated with offshore gas fields. Deposits of iron ore, discovered in the late 19th cent. and responsible for Barrow's growth, have since been depleted. The ruins of the medieval Furness Abbey, England's second largest abbey, are nearby. The district of Barrow includes four adjacent islands.
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