Broughton-in-Furness

"BROUGHTON-IN-FURNESS, (or West Broughton), a chapelry and market town, in the parish of Kirkby Ireleth, hundred of Lonsdale North of the Sands, in the county palatine of Lancaster, 9 miles to the N. of Ulverston, and 280 miles from London. It is a station on the Furness and Coniston railway. The town lies in a mountainous country on the banks of the river Duddon. Iron and copper are abundant, and large quantities of slate are quarried and exported. Hoop-bending is an important branch of the local industry. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the neighbouring mines. The town stands on a hill-side facing the south, and contains some good houses built of stone and roofed with slate. Small vessels can approach within a mile of the town, the estuary being navigable to Duddon Bridge. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Chester, value £108, in the patronage of B. Sawrey, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. There is a small grammar school endowed with £6 a year, and some other charities worth about £10. On a hill to the N. of the town is Broughton Tower, the seat of the Sawreys. Friday is the market day. Fairs are held on the 27th April and on the first Friday in October for the sale of cattle and for hiring farm servants, and on the 1st August for cattle.