Ulverston - South Lakeland Cumbria
UK
Geography
Ulverston is an old market town located in the Furness Peninsula of the English Lake
District. To the north of the peninsula are the Furness Fells, the Cumbrian mountains, and
lakes Coniston and Windermere. The peninsula itself has a gentler landscape than the
mountainous areas, consisting of rolling pasturelands, ancient picturesque villages
and unspoilt tarns (small lakes).
Ulverston can be reached by rail (there are
frequent trains from Manchester International airport, change at Lancaster if coming from
London) and by road, leaving the M6 at junction 36 and following the A590 in the direction
of Barrow-in-Furness. See Arriving in Ulverston
This part of Cumbria is a walker's
paradise. There is a network of footpaths, green lanes and bridleways which link the
villages and ancient sites, and pass through an idyllic pastoral countryside ( visit http://www.explorelowfurness.co.uk/guidedwalks.htm)
Furness is rich in Neolithic remains,
including a stone circle on Birkrigg Common and other ancient sacred sites (the circle was
once known locally as the Druids' Temple - it still does strange things to dowsing rods).
There are also a number of Neolithic sites in the Gleaston Mill area which are
currently being excavated.
Arts and Culture in Furness
The Coronation Hall is Ulverston's major civic
and social centre and attracts many artistes including an annual visit from the English
Touring Opera. It is also one of the major venues for Ulverston's programme of
Festivals including the Music Festival, Folklore Festival and Comedy Festival.
(Ulverston was the birthplace of Stan Laurel, and fans come from all over the world to
visit the Laurel and Hardy museum). The town's tourist information centre is also
housed in the 'Coro' (Tel 01229 587140).
There are a number of performing arts
organisations in the town such as Furness
Youth Theatre, Ulverston Outsiders, Ulverston Amateur Operatic Society, the Ghyll
Singers and and Ulverston Bach Choir. There is also a major new arts complex at The
Lantern House, which is home to Welfare State
International, the 'Engineers of the Imagination'.
SUNBRICK
'Society of
Friends, Sunbrick Burial Ground'
'Between the
years 1654 and 1767 there were buried here 227 Friends among whom was Margaret Fox, wife
first of Judge Thomas Fell and secondly of George Fox founder of the Society of Friends.
She died at Swarthmoor Hall on April 23 1702 aged 87 years'
Religions - Quakers, Buddhists and
Celtic Christians
Ulverston and its surrounding area has exerted a powerful cultural and spiritual influence
upon the world by being the origin of two major religious movements (and
possibly three following recent
discoveries):
The first was Quakerism.
George Fox, the founder of The Society of Friends (Quakers) lived at Swarthmoor Hall (at that time spelt
'Swarthmore Hall') on the Western outskirts of the town [How to get there].
The Quakers' influence spread from Ulverston throughout the world. Their enlightened and
compassionate actions played a major part in bringing about the abolition of slavery, the
equality of women and many social reforms of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The second movement is the NKT (New Kadampa Tradition)
of Mahayana Buddhism, based at Conishead Priory (Manjushri Centre) to the south of
the town [How to get there].
The publishing company Tharpa, which is a major
international and multilingual publisher of Buddhist books, has its headquarters in
Ulverston.
Celtic Spirituality and Celtic Christianity in
Furness
South Cumbria has a strong association with Celtic Spirituality and it seems
possible that St Patrick originated from this area.
Following his escape from captivity in Ireland, Patrick tried to make his way home by sea
but was was shipwrecked at Heysham, which is ten miles from Ulverston across Morecambe
Bay. According to legend he then set out by land in the direction of South Cumbria.
Recent archeological investigations suggest that the Church of St Mary and St Michael at
Urswick is a religious centre of great antiquity, going back at least as far as the
Roman era. In fact, the dedication to the Archangel Michael is an indicator of a
Christianised pagan site, as Michael was regarded as the subduer of the heathen gods.
There is a neolithic dolmen close by:
Dolmen at Urswick
It therefore seems likely that the Church is built upon a pre-existing Celtic sacred
site and was probably a very early centre of Celtic Christianity. The Celtic Church was
officially suppressed by the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, though its customs and beliefs
persisted in isolated parts of Western Britain for several centuries afterwards.
Tranquillity - Urswick Tarn on a winter afternoon
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