The Dock Museum is set to turn 30 this month.

A special new gallery, created by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will launch on Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29, called The Shipyard Town to celebrate its birthday.

The two-year project will tell the stories of Barrow’s main industry from the 1950s to the present day, as well as looking to the future. 

READ MORE: Sankey exhibition shows town's most-treasured old photos

READ MORE: Who were the Sankey family that captured 70 years of Barrow?

READ MORE: Hard working Barrovians of the past and their harsh working conditions

The Dock Museum has become an iconic landmark in its own right with its impressive collection of historical objects ranging from prehistory to the present day.

Built over an historic graving dock by architects Craig and Green, the museum’s building was originally constructed in 1988 from steel, concrete and glass.

Furness Dock Museum collections manager Steve Blackburn with a newly arrived Barrow railway sign in September 1999.The town has had a general museum since 1907 however a maritime museum was opened in the 1990s at its current location.

The council had taken on the dock project in 1992 when the building began to house maritime and general items from Barrow Museum on Ramsden Square.

Subscribe to the Mail for more nostalgia article

The Dock Museum was then proudly opened in May 1994 by former Barrow Mayor Hazel Edwards.

It saw 50,000 people visit it in its first year and continues to rack up impressive visitor figures year-on-year for a town the size of Barrow. 

The Channelside Walk, which goes through the site of the museum, was opened in 1995 and the dock gate was installed the following year.

The new dock gates being carefully lowered into place in 1996 In 1999, a major grant enabled the digitisation of over 10,000 images donated by the Barrow shipyard to be viewed online on the Dock Museum website.

‘Shipbuilders to the World’ was created two years later which saw the refitting of the top floor of the museum.

In 2012, the Furness Viking Hoard was purchased displayed in a purpose built gallery after it was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2010 at an undisclosed site.

The Silverdale Hoard of Viking coins, jewellery an silver bullion The Norse collection includes over 90 coins and artefacts which were thought have been buried between 955 and 957.

A Viking sword uncovered at Rampside churchyard chartered the rise of Barrow's emergence as a maritime town and allowed the museum to delve further into its complex history.

It was also a temporary home for the wooden throne of Piel in 2021 while the island pub was without an owner.

The Piel Island throne in displayOver the decades, it has received funding from many big players such as Heritage Lottery Fund, the Arts Council and ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).

Cllr Bill McEwan at the opening of new Dock Museum playground in 2019 In 2019, the Dock Museum's playground re-opened after it was transformed following its popular pirate ship installation was removed in 2017 after the structure fell into disrepair.

The upgrade of the playground came thanks to a package of £900,000 given to Barrow Borough Council towards improvements at the Dock Museum.

The same year, The Dock Museum’s lifeboat, Herbert Leigh, underwent an extensive refurbishment.

The vessel was the longest serving lifeboat at the Barrow RNLI station from 1951 – 1982.

R.N.L.I Herbert Leigh on the move in 2018 Now under the control of Westmorland and Furness council, the museum continues to boast its fantastic channel-side historical location  with changing exhibitions, a gift shop and a café. 

This is alongside it sea-themed playground, picnic tables, sculpture and lifeboat.