The Sir John Barrow Monument - Ulverston

On Saturday we popped to Ulverston for some lunch and a spot of shopping. I have long been fascinated by the lighthouse which isn't a lighthouse, and I now know never has been, on Hoad Hill. It was the perfect day for admiring the monument, so clear and bright.

The monument was built in 1850 by public subscription as a memorial for Sir John Barrow, an English geographer, linguist, writer and civil servant born in Ulverston in 1764.

The Sir John Barrow Monument can be seen for many miles around, and has become a symbol for the town.  It is a Grade II * listed building and is sometimes known locally as Hoad Monument. It stands on the 450 ft high summit of Hoad Hill overlooking Ulverston and Morecambe Bay.

The Monument is built of limestone quarried from nearby Birkrigg Common. It was modelled on the earlier Eddystone Lighthouse built in 1759 by John Smeaton. The monument has an internal spiral staircase of 112 narrow steps leading to the lantern chamber, which has never had a functional light.