Roa Island

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / height missing

Roa Iceland is located about 1 km south of the village of Rampside at the southernmost point of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, England. The island has a size of about three hectares and is inhabited by about 100 people. For administrative purposes, the island was assigned to the Borough of Barrow-in- Furness.

History

Roa Iceland was until 1847 a real island that could only be reached by boat or foot at low tide. John Abel Smith, a banker from London bought the island in 1840. He built a dam, the island joined after its completion in 1846 with the mainland. At the same time he also build a pier which was given the name Piel Pier and with its 247 m length of the opportunity offered as a dock in deep water steam ships that established a connection to Fleetwood to have to create. The pier was connected to the Furness Railway. The rail link was originally planned as a freight line, but also a passenger line has connected on 24 August 1846. In the following years there was a dispute between the railway company and Smith. The boat service was temporarily displaced by the railway company to Barrow -in- Furness, but Smith forced by a court order the relocation. Finally, the railway and Smith agreed on a sale of the entire island. Before the sale was completed, the investor was severely damaged by a storm and pushed the purchase price in favor of the railway company. The investor was demolished in 1891, because the shipping channel silted up. The railroad still operating until 1936. Today the route of the railway under the road connection from Rampside has disappeared over the causeway to the island.

Since 1864 there is a lifeboat station of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in charge of the Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea on the island.