Devonshire Dock is the oldest of the four docks which make up the

Royal Port of Barrow The Royal Port of Barrow refers to the enclosed dock system within the town of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Morecambe Bay is to the east of the port and the Irish Sea surrounds it to the south and west. The port is currently owned and operated ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

, England. Although the dock falls under the control of

Associated British Ports Associated British Ports (ABP) owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and mari ...

it is currently solely utilised by

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

. Upon completion of the dock,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

stated 'Barrow would one day become another Liverpool'. Although its shipbuilding capabilities have exceeded those on Merseyside, the port and dock system itself never fully met James Ramsden's grand vision for the town. Construction of Devonshire Dock commenced in 1863 and was funded by the

Furness Railway The Furness Railway (FR) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England. History Formation In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested in a ...

, which at the time controlled the new town's economy (iron ore extraction and transportation). Construction involved reshaping an existing narrow channel between Barrow Island and the British mainland and was completed in 1867, this was followed in 1872 by the adjacent Buccleuch Dock which was built to the same specification allowing vessels up to to berth. A large portion of Devonshire Dock was filled in during the 1980s to create more land for Barrow's growing shipyard. The majority of the land is now occupied by

Devonshire Dock Hall Devonshire Dock Hall (often abbreviated to ''DDH'') is a large indoor shipbuilding and assembly complex that forms part of the BAE Systems shipyard in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. History Constructed between ...

a large indoor submarine building complex that has enabled the construction of all

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

''Vanguard''-class and ''Astute-class submarines''.

References

{{coord, 54.1087, -3.2310, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title

Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...