Only a small part of this grand, sandstone, Victorian hotel stands today, just to the north of Furness Abbey in the Vale of the Deadly Nightshade.

The Furness Railway Company established the hotel and adjacent station after 1847, on the site of a derelict 17th Century Manor House.(1)

By the 1938, the tourist trade had reduced and hotel closed. During WW2 the hotel’s relatively remote location meant it was deemed, by the Military, to be the best place for the Anti Aircraft (AA) Control Centre; from where they could coordinate the required response to any bombing of Barrow – with some assurance that they would be clear of the attacks. (2, 3)

It would have come as a shock when, on the night of 4th / 5th May, a mine exploded 100 yards south-east of the Furness Abbey Station. (5)

The mine landed very close to where the photo had been taken; the shape of the valley would have affected the blast impact on to the hotel, which suffered broken windows and doors ripped off their hinges – similar to damage experienced in many parts of Barrow where mines dropped nearby.

By the end of the war, the building was in a poor state of repair and it stood empty until finally being demolished in 1951 and 1954 (3) – with the exception of the north wing. Its ground floor had been used as the ticket office for the station (seen on the right of the hotel in the image). This part of the building became the Abbey Tavern until it closed. The station closed 25th September 1950. (4)