All the undergraduate Colleges at Lancaster have been named after regions of Lancashire.

Furness lies to the North of Morecambe Bay, stretching from the dockyards of Barrow-in-Furness to the mountains above Coniston in the Lake District National Park. Together with Cartmel, Furness came into the possession of the Honour of Lancaster in the twelfth century. For more than 800 years Cartmel and Furness remained separated from the rest of Lancashire by the sands of Morecambe Bay until the reorganisation of county boundaries placed both regions in Cumbria.

The economy of the Furness region prospered firstly under the influence of the Cistercian Monks of Furness Abbey and later as industry developed in association with iron mining. Barrow became an important shipbuilding port, though today the area’s industry is in decline. The logo on the cover of this handbook and on the College notepaper depicts a transect from the industrial fringes of Barrow inland towards the Lake District. Furness residence blocks are named after various towns and villages within this area. The University is fortunate to be situated amidst an area of such diverse scenic and historical interest. We hope that during your time at Lancaster you take the opportunity to explore the local area.

Furness was the fifth of the University’s colleges to open. In 1966 a twelve person planning committee, chaired by Professor Reynolds (the founder Principal of Furness and subsequently Lancaster’s second Vice Chancellor), was set up to design the buildings and facilities of the College. This committee worked for two years, and Furness College was opened in 1968.

Those who planned the College were conscious of the reasons underlying the decision to make Lancaster a collegiate university. Granted that the university was finally to be of a large size, it was thought desirable that there should be smaller units within the university with which staff and students could identify. Small units would also prevent all concerned from feeling lost in a vast and possibly soulless institution. The original planners and those who followed them have tried hard to create in the College a social, cultural and sporting life which can be enjoyed by all of its members, junior (i.e. students) and senior (i.e. staff) alike.

We have tried, therefore, to create a balanced social life for students, and an environment in which students and staff might, by associating in various activities, come to know each other better. This embraces both formal contact (e.g. via the College Tutorial and Welfare System) and informal social activities,such as the 'Party in the Park', and it has worked very successfully.