North Scale is a village and one of only four settlements on the
Isle of Walney, Cumbria, England. It is the northernmost settlement, lying a mile north of
Vickerstown.
History
North Scale was first identified as an agricultural settlement, owned by
Furness Abbey, in 1247.
As a Parliamentarian stronghold in the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
it was briefly sieged by Royalists.
In 1865, the Crown Inn opened in North Scale.
Before the
Jubilee Bridge to Walney Island opened in 1908, people crossing on foot at low tide would arrive near North Scale. A causeway was built to make crossing possible for longer periods.
Modern development
The village grew with the development of the Red Ley estate in the 1960s and the Barnes estate in the 1970s.
North Scale has a community centre, and is linked by bus services to the rest of Walney Island, and to
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 ...
, via the Jubilee Bridge.
The village is home to the Lakes Gliding Club.
In popular culture
North Scale is mentioned alongside
Biggar in the folk song '
Wa'ney Island Cockfight' as the origin of one of the groups of
cockfight
Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...
ers.
The song has been recorded by
Fiddler's Dram and
Martin Wyndham-Reed.
References
External links
Villages in Cumbria
Districts of Barrow-in-Furness
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