Backbarrow probably grew during the
Elizabethan period, due to the corn mills that were built along the river. Earlier mills at the site had been owned by
Furness Abbey, which by this time had been dissolved. Development increased due to the
iron furnace that was built in Backbarrow in 1711. The furnace has been described as the first efficient
blast furnace. The cotton mills continued to grow in size during the Victorian period. In 1868 an extension of the
Furness Railway was built through the village to transport iron and products from the mills. Though the line was closed in the 1960s with the demise of the ironworks, the section from
Haverthwaite to
Lakeside, which passes through Backbarrow, remains open as a
heritage railway (see
Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway). Backbarrow was particularly associated with the production of the blue pigment
ultramarine, or "
dolly blue". The ultramarine factory was established in an old mill building by the Lancashire Ultramarine Company, then purchased by
Reckitt & Sons in 1928. The 'blue mill' was well known locally, as dust from its production gave a blue tint to most of the village. Production of this continued until 1981. The factory site, which was known locally as "the bluemills", now accommodates a popular hotel and two blocks of apartments. A display of machinery used in the old factory is maintained by the hotel's proprietors while the old furnace, believed to be the only remaining example of its type, has been declared a Scheduled Ancient Monument and preserved as part of the Ironworks Apartments development. Backbarrow was hit by the
nationwide floods of November 2009, as the River Leven overflowed causing severe damage to the bridge's walls and both parts of the Whitewater Hotel, as well as the Swan Hotel in
Newby Bridge, 1.3 miles further up the river. In 2010 the
Lakeland Motor Museum relocated from
Holker Hall to the former site of the Reckitt's Blue Dye Works carton packaging sheds in Backbarrow. ==Geography and environment==