The Genesis of Moor Row: A Study in 19th-Century Industrial Colonisation

​​Moor Row, Cumbria, is an archetypal example of a planned, rapid industrial settlement, not an organic village. Its foundation (1855–1860) was a direct, engineered response to Victorian-era material demands.

​The village's genesis was triggered by the discovery of vast low-phosphorus haematite deposits, perfectly suited for the new Bessemer steel-making process. This geological opportunity was immediately exploited by concentrated land ownership (e.g., the Dalzell family) and a critical piece of infrastructure: the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway (WCER).

​The WCER opened in 1855, instantly establishing Moor Row as a vital and highly profitable railway junction. The immense labour requirements of the Montreal Mines (employing over 1,000 people) and the railway necessitated rapid accommodation.

This sudden influx led to the quick establishment of communal institutions, confirming the swift transition from a logistical site to a socio-culturally structured community. Moor Row’s layout remains a tangible legacy of this intense, focused period of industrial colonisation.

I. Introduction: Locating Moor Row within the Industrial Geography of West Cumbria

The settlement of Moor Row, situated upon Cumbria’s coastal plain, provides a compelling historical example of the rapid, functional urbanisation spurred by the material demands of the Victorian era. Geographically, the village is located within the Egremont civil parish, strategically positioned to the south-east of the port of Whitehaven. While today it primarily functions as a residential community, its foundation is inextricably linked to the explosive growth of high-grade haematite extraction and the intensive logistical infrastructure required to transport the ore to industrial centres.

​The establishment of Moor Row was not a process of gradual evolution, but rather one characterised by a planned, rapid transition from scattered agrarian homesteads to a formalised industrial settlement cluster. The most critical foundational period occurred between 1855 and 1860, driven by the synergistic pressures exerted by the need to efficiently extract rich iron ore deposits and the logistical imperative of the newly constructed rail network. Moor Row, alongside neighbouring settlements such as Frizington and Bigrigg, "rose up in the mid-19th century to accommodate the incomers" arriving in large numbers to work the mines. This sudden, deliberate creation marks it as a site of strategic industrial intervention, reflecting centralised planning by capital holders rather than organic communal development.

​The very identity of the village is embedded in its nomenclature. The name Moor Row is descriptive, derived from the Middle English more ('marsh fen') and rowe ('row, especially of houses'), signifying a 'row of houses on a moor'. 

This common name likely solidified its association with the houses on Scalegill street, which were specifically noted on the 1860 Ordnance Survey map. Prior to this formal designation, government records, including early census reports, tracked the locality using various disparate topographical and functional names, such as Low Keekle, Ingwell View, Moorroe, Moor Row Junction, and Scalegill.

The decisive shift in accepted place-names - moving from pastoral or geographical markers (Low Keekle, Scalegill) to the functionally specific "Moor Row Junction" - is chronologically significant. It demonstrates that the settlement’s identity was fundamentally redefined by its new industrial functions of housing and transport in the mid-1850s, consolidating previously disparate local landmarks under a singular industrial moniker.

​II. The Pre-Industrial Landscape and Land Ownership (Pre-1850)

Before the industrial revolution transformed the region, the landscape occupied by Moor Row was characterised by sparse population and long-established homesteads, indicating a slower agrarian and localised existence. Evidence suggests habitation in the immediate area predates the industrial era by over a century, tracing back to before 1762, when residents occupied the High Moor Row and Low Moor Row homesteads situated between Summerhill Mansion and Woodend with Cleator.

​Physical structures confirm this longevity, notably the red sandstone Gutterby Cottages, located near the Moor Row to Woodend road, which were occupied for centuries, spanning the period from 1690 to 1960. While minor resource extraction existed, it was insufficient to trigger mass settlement.

The Gutterby Mine, for example, was initially developed by local businessmen like Richard Barker, a Whitehaven soap boiler, around 1825, though the first documented raising of ore did not occur until 1834. Even where mining rights were established, such as the Peel royalty granted in 1824, mining did not begin until 1860.

​The viability of mass extraction was severely limited before 1850. Ore quantities produced were very small due to technological constraints; traditional charcoal smelting struggled to reach the melting point of iron, and the remote district offered little local demand. 

The centuries-long, stable existence of Gutterby Cottages, spanning well into the industrial period, suggests that the pre-1850 activities were localised and small-scale, not requiring mass housing construction. Moor Row was thus conceived not as a result of gradual growth, but as a direct response to the massive economic and technological shifts that occurred after 1850.

​Land Control and Proprietary Power

​A critical preparatory factor for the rapid foundation of Moor Row was the localised control of land, concentrated in the hands of families capable of investing in and profiting from the new mineral wealth. The Dalzell family held extensive holdings in the vicinity, owning parcels of land extending "along the road from Moor Row to Woodend past Gutterby and around Frizington and Aspatria".

​The consolidation of this influence is documented through land succession. The Wildridge family resided at the Low Moor Row homestead, and their daughter Elizabeth married the gardener named Dalzell.

Upon the deaths of the Wildridges, Dalzell took over his wife’s estates. This merger of agrarian land holdings with commercial ambition was pivotal, placing crucial tracts required for housing and infrastructure into the hands of a family that became intimately involved in the industrial boom, with Thomas Henry Dalzell explicitly noted as a mine owner.

The subsequent naming of Dalzell Street after the family - whose estates were substantial enough to require management by trustees by 1885 - serves as a permanent marker of this proprietary power structure, which was a vital precondition for the rapid, co-ordinated village development that followed.

​III. The Catalytic Forces: Geology, Technology, and Labour Demand (c. 1850–1870)

​The high-grade haematite deposits of West Cumbria provided the raw material, but it was the intersection of this geology with technological advancements and resulting global demand that acted as the primary engine for Moor Row’s creation.

​The Haematite Imperative and Industrial Scale

​The rich deposits of haematite (iron ore) had been noted for some time, but commercial exploitation was restrained until the 1850s. The breakthrough arrived with the Bessemer steel-making process, developed during that decade, which demanded iron ores with an extremely low phosphorus content. The West Cumbrian haematite perfectly satisfied this requirement, transforming the region into an essential source for the burgeoning global steel industry and triggering a "Klondike rush" for mining leases and development.

​The scale of extraction around Moor Row was substantial and immediate. The village’s Montreal Mines achieved an exceptional annual output of 250,000 tonnes, positioning it as the largest mining operation in the Whitehaven or Furness district, second only to the one at Hodbarrow. The mine property covered an immense area, estimated at a thousand acres, with half determined to be ore-bearing.

This level of intensive activity necessitated massive manpower, requiring the local industry to employ between 1,000 and 1,200 people. This overwhelming labour requirement necessitated a concentrated accommodation solution, leading directly to the sudden construction of settlements such as Moor Row.

​Specialised Labour and Migration Patterns

​To meet the technical challenges of deep, hard-rock extraction, the region relied heavily on specialised external labour pools. Cornish tin miners, facing decline in their native industry, migrated to Moor Row in significant numbers. Their recognised expertise was essential for the rapid, deep extraction needed by the Montreal Mines. The lasting influence of this organized migrant community is physically recorded in the village's morphology: Penzance Street remains a visible geographical memorial to the specific cultural and technical origins of a large segment of the workforce.

This migration pattern confirms that Moor Row’s industrial economy was fundamentally linked to the specialised labour demands of Victorian technology and capital, requiring external expertise that local labour pools could not supply.

​Furthermore, Moor Row’s economic viability was enhanced by integrated resource extraction. While primarily an iron ore centre, the Montreal mine was noted for its capability to raise "coal and iron coming up the same pit shaft". This symbiotic resource provision secured local fuel supplies and reinforced Moor Row’s role within the wider industrial ecosystem, serving the furnaces and foundries in nearby Cleator Moor.

​IV. The Infrastructural Engine: Moor Row as a Railway Junction

​The railway was the critical enabling factor that converted the geological wealth into commercial success, and Moor Row’s physical identity was fundamentally defined by its role as a transport nexus. The infrastructure preceded and dictated the settlement’s rapid emergence.

​The Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway and Logistical Dominance

​The Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway (WCER) was chartered specifically to exploit the haematite orefield, serving the developing local area which included iron ore mines, coal pits, and limestone quarries. The line opened for goods traffic in 1855, immediately facilitating large-scale ore export, followed closely by passenger service in 1857.

​Moor Row Station opened on 1 July 1857. Its physical location rapidly transformed it into a crucial logistical hub, serving as the junction for multiple essential routes: westbound to Whitehaven, southward to Egremont and Sellafield, and eastward toward the mining districts of Cleator Moor, Frizington, and Rowrah. By 1879, the addition of the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway connection further intensified its strategic importance.

This concentration of railway activity meant Moor Row became "western Cumberland's most important junction and goods yard" for decades. The village hosted an expansive railway shunting yard, engine shed, and facilities dedicated to carriage and wagon repair, all contributing significantly to local employment and prosperity.

​Dual Village Genesis and Corporate Investment

​The village’s foundation was catalysed by both the mining and the railway industries simultaneously. Historical records indicate that Moor Row was built originally to house railway workers employed by the newly built WCER. The local railway network, highly profitable during the 1870s and 1880s due to the massive mineral traffic, injected substantial capital into the immediate area.

​The railway company’s direct investment in housing illustrates its role as a primary industrial coloniser and an early source of social stratification within the settlement. High-status accommodation, such as Victoria Villa, was built by the WCER for its senior staff. This structure was present by the 1871 census, housing key personnel such as John Russell, the Railway Traffic Manager, and later Edwin Rose, the Divisional Locomotive Superintendent.

The concurrent presence of company-built, higher-status housing and the early terraced rows for the general workforce confirms that Moor Row functioned as a complex industrial node, simultaneously serving the housing and logistical needs of both the mine owners and the powerful railway corporation.

​V. The Built Form: Rapid Urban Morphology and the "Row" (1859–1870)

The rapid construction and subsequent morphology of Moor Row unequivocally confirm its nature as a purpose-built industrial settlement, designed for density and efficiency. The physical reality of a 'row of houses on a moor' was materialised almost instantly following the introduction of the railway.

​

The Foundational Housing Stock

​The critical period for formalised building development is concentrated between 1859 and 1860. The oldest identifiable evidence of standardised terraced housing remains on Dalzell Street, where rows of "2 up and 2 down" houses date specifically from 1859. By the following year, the 1860 Ordnance Survey map formally noted the presence of the Scalegill street houses.

​The physical construction of worker accommodation was a direct, necessary response by employers to house the incoming thousands required by the burgeoning mines and the essential railway network.

These early workers’ cottages were built on the east side of Dalzell Street by 1860. The imposition of new, standardised structures (the "rows") over pre-existing geographical terminology (Scalegill) is a definitive characteristic of industrial settlements, prioritising the efficiency and density required by rapid capitalisation over organic growth patterns.

​The intensity of this rapid building boom carried significant, long-term environmental consequences. The Moor Row area was profoundly undermined by the Montreal Mines, with six active shafts operating within the village area itself.

This heavy extraction led to issues of subsidence and flooding; after the last mine closed in the 1920s, the workings were drowned, leaving the surrounding land flooded with cankered mine water.

Consequently, land use continues to be restricted today, with areas like the old railway yard listed on the coal authority risk register as unsuitable for housing development due to historical undermining. 

This enduring instability directly connects the intense, concentrated nature of the 1860s building phase with the environmental liabilities of the 20th and 21st centuries.

VI. Maturation: Demographic Diversity and the Birth of a Community (1870–1885)

​The rapid population surge necessitated the swift establishment of civic and religious institutions, confirming Moor Row's transition from a logistical site to a socio-culturally structured community in the 1870s.

​Establishing Social Infrastructure

​The massive influx of workers included specialised Cornish miners and contributed to the wider district's high concentration of Irish immigrants, which earned nearby Cleator Moor the nickname "Little Ireland". This diverse, concentrated population required institutional support. As Moor Row grew intensely in the second half of the 19th century, it was compelled to acquire its own civic and religious places.

​The near-simultaneous establishment of separate religious institutions highlights the cultural and religious heterogeneity of the new community.

In 1875, the non-conformist segment of the population built the Scalegill Road United Methodist Free Church Chapel. This Methodist chapel later added a school in 1897. The necessity of providing dedicated religious and educational infrastructure for distinct, large socio-religious groups within a few years confirms the significant size and immediate settling of the workforce.

​Despite its intense industrial growth, Moor Row remained tied administratively to its origins, functioning throughout this period as part of the Egremont civil parish. This administrative reality suggests that while its economic function as the key railway junction and housing row was indisputable, its civic development lagged behind, remaining a satellite industrial community rather than achieving the formal independence of a parish like its neighbour Cleator Moor, which formalised its parish name later, in 1934.

​VII. Synthesis and Conclusion

​The genesis of Moor Row, West Cumbria, must be understood as a direct, engineered response to the specific economic conditions of the mid-19th century. The village was not an organic development; it was a physical manifestation of industrial demand.

​The causal relationship is clear and chronological:

• ​Geological Opportunity: The discovery of extensive, high-grade, low-phosphorus haematite provided a perfect match for the industrial requirements of the Bessemer process (post-1850).
• ​Proprietary Control: Land in the area, particularly along vital transit corridors, was already consolidated under mine-owning families, notably the Dalzells, enabling unified industrial development.
• ​Infrastructural Catalyst: The opening of the WCER for goods in 1855 and passenger service in 1857 provided the essential logistical infrastructure, establishing Moor Row as a critical, highly profitable railway junction.
• ​Rapid Colonisation: This combination led to a mass influx of labour, including specialised Cornish miners, requiring the immediate construction of terraced housing. The formal settlement, defined by the Dalzell Street rows and the presence of the Scalegill houses on the 1860 OS map, was effectively built within a five-year period (1855–1860).

​Moor Row’s morphology - defined by its industrial terraces, its railway junction facilities, and the rapid establishment of segregated communal institutions (Catholic and Methodist chapels) - remains a highly legible historical map of its specific 19th-century boom. 

Although the primary industrial drivers - mining and mineral traffic - have since ceased, with the mines closing by the 1920s and the railway line shutting in 1980, Moor Row’s physical existence and layout are the enduring legacy of this intense period of planned industrial colonisation in West Cumbria.

Dalzell Street Moor Row Illustration