Walney

"ISLE OF WALNEY, a chapelry in the parish of Dalton in Furness, hundred of Lonsdale North of the Sands, county Lancaster, 5 miles S.W. of Dalton. This place, which is insular at high water, is situated between Morecambe Bay and the river Dudden, opposite the village and port of Barrow, which is reached by a ferry. It contains the villages of North Scales and Bigger. A lighthouse was erected in 1790 at the southern end of the island, which has a revolving light 70 feet high, and visible for 13 miles. The sea is gradually encroaching upon the land, which was formdrly an extensive forest, but has now scarcely a tree. Several rare plants grow here, and at North Scale is an intermittent well. On the northern extremity of the island stands the castle of the "Pile of Fouldrey," erected in 1327 by the Abbot of Furness for the protection of the inner harbour. It was once of consiDerable strength, but is now a ruin. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Carlisle, value £90, in the patronage of the Vicar of Dalton. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was restored in 1856. A National school has been recently erected.