Skip to main content
Historical

Sir John Barrow Cottage

By October 18, 2021January 30th, 2024No Comments
Sir John Barrow Cottage

This page was updated in conjunction with Sir John Barrow Cottage on 18th October 2021

Visit the Sir John Barrow Cottage in Ulverston, Cumbria.  Find it on Facebook hereFind out more on Wikipedia.Sir John Barrow Cottage poster

Some Recent History – New Lease of Life for the Sir John Barrow Cottage

In recent years the Sir John Barrow Cottage, in the hamlet of Dragley Beck on the southern edge of Ulverston, Cumbria, has been unused and empty following the winding down of Heritage First! (formerly the Ulverston Heritage Centre). They had been using it as a small museum dedicated to Sir John Barrow, who was born in the cottage and went on to have an illustrious career, serving on expeditions to China and South Africa, before becoming the longest serving second secretary to the admiralty where he was particularly involved in promoting Arctic exploration. A public consultation carried out by Ulverston Town Council, who own the cottage, in 2015 demonstrated that there was a strong wish to keep the building for the town (one of the possible options being to sell it!) but there was no obvious scheme whereby it could be sustainably run.

Greenlane Archaeology therefore put forward a proposal to act as managers of the cottage, while working in partnership with local historians, re-enactors, artists, and the newly reformed Ulverston Civic Society, to provide activities and artists’ residences and enable the building to be visited and enjoyed by the public once again. It is still early in the process as the lease was only signed by Greenlane Archaeology in late April, but initial reorganisation and tidying at the cottage has begun and ideas are being worked on for future events. Watch this space for more news!

Dan Elsworth
Director, Greenlane Archaeology

10 May 2017