What is "furness"

Furness is a peninsula and region in south Cumbria, England. While the name originally referred to the peninsula only, it is also used to refer more broadly to the whole of North Lonsdale, that part of the Lonsdale hundred that is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire and also known as Detached Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay.

The area may be divided into Low Furness and High Furness. Low Furness is the peninsula itself. This juts out into the Irish Sea, delineating the north-western edge of Morecambe Bay and the southern part of the Duddon Estuary. The southern end of the peninsula is dominated by the bay's tidal mudflats. The long thin island of Walney lies off the peninsula's south-west coast. High Furness is the northern part of the area, that was part of North Lonsdale but is not on the peninsula itself. Much of it is within the Lake District National Park, and it includes the Furness Fells. It borders England's largest body of water, Windermere. Additionally, the Cartmel Peninsula, a separate peninsula between the estuaries of the rivers Leven and Kent, is often included in definitions of Furness.

The town of Barrow-in-Furness dominates the region with about 55% of the total population of 102,000. Other principal settlements are Ulverston, Dalton-in-Furness, Coniston, Broughton-in-Furness, and Askam and Ireleth.

Furness is a peninsula in the southern part of Cumbria, in north-west England.

People with the surname Furness:

• Betty Furness (1916–1994), American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator
• Bruce Furness (21st century), former mayor of Fargo, North Dakota
• Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness (1852–1912), British businessman and Liberal politician
• Christopher Furness (VC) (1912–1940), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Deborra-Lee Furness (born 1955), Australian actress, director and producer
• Don Furness (born 1930), former Australian rules footballer
• Ed Furness (1911–2005), Canadian comic book artist
• Frank Furness (1839–1912), American architect
• George Furness (1820–1900), British construction engineer
• Harold Furness (1887–1975), American cricketer
• Horace Howard Furness (1833–1912), American Shakespearean scholar
• Richard Furness (1791–1857), British poet
• Steve Furness (1950–2000), American football defensive tackle
• Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness (1904–1970), American socialite
• William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness (1929–1995), Viscount in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
• William Henry Furness (1802–1896), American abolitionist and Unitarian minister

Furness may also refer to:

• Annis Lee Furness Wister (1830–1908), American translator
• Caroline Furness Jayne (1873–1909), American ethnologist
• Furness Vale, High Peak, Derbyshire, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom
• Silurus furness, a species of fish