Last Updated: 13 November 2009
Great Urswick
Great Urswick is an ancient village
nestling beneath steeply rising ground to the north and east, where
its original field patterns ascend the sloping ground like a
radiating fan from the settlement below. The village occupies
three sides of a 5.7 hectare marl tarn, the heritage bequeathed to
the village by glacial action and now an important ecological asset.
"Well, I'm in Church Road, but where's the tarn?"
Whilst still being small, with around 230 dwellings, the village is
the largest settlement in the parish. It has two pubs, a
restaurant converted from one of its six former working farms, Low
Furness Church of England Primary School, and the only shop/post
office in the parish. Notwithstanding its small size, these
services, together with an infrequent but little used bus service, make it the
target for further development by distal Authorities.
Urswick Parish church of St. Mary and St. Michael
The parish church of St. Mary and St. Michael is believed to
have its origins as far back as the 7th or 8th Century and therefore
pre-dates the rich and hugely influential Cistercian Furness Abbey,
5.6 km to the southwest, by a considerable margin. The structure
has been upgraded many times over the ages, but
its great age touches the senses of all who visit this centre of
spirituality to the countless generations of Urswick residents who
worshipped here over the millennia. The annual carpet of
crocuses in the churchyard is a sure telegraph of approaching Spring
and its ancient sundial an icon of life's passage.
Low Furness Church of England Primary School
Low Furness Church of England Primary School
is located between the two villages of Great Urswick and Little
Urswick and was opened in 1994. As implied by its name, it serves an area of rural Low
Furness beyond the Parish of Urswick. When its pupils reach the age of
eleven it is normal for them to transfer to Ulverston Victoria High
School, four miles away in the market town of Ulverston.