In the 1800’s most of the houses in Barrow didn’t
have bathrooms or any washing facilities except for tin baths which
were stored in the yards and brought into the house at bath times.
Also Barrow had a large population explosion as people moved into
the area looking for work in the iron and shipbuilding industries.
A lot of small terraced houses would be overcrowded with several
families living in one house which probably made bath times a bit
awkward.
Above the main door to the building is a ram’s head which
is from the coat of arms of the Ramsden family. Also above the door
on the lintel is an inscription which reads “PRESENTED TO THE
TOWN BY JAMES RAMSDEN ESQ FIRST MAYOR”.
I remember looking in through an open door of this building in
the 1980’s and seeing a number of cubicles around the walls
but I’m unsure if this was part of the original building. At
this time Furness collage was using this building, I think it may
have been used for training welders and the cubicles may have been
a later addition. In the 1980’s the building was redeveloped
and turned into a citizen’s advice bureau.
This is a magnetic Nano cache so make sure you fetch a writing
implement with you.