THE enduring influence of the Norsemen on Furness over several centuries was the topic for a lecture at the Forum, Barrow.

Dr Fiona Edmonds was the final quest in a series of talks arranged by living history group the Iron Shepherds. The speaker is from the department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic history at the University of Cambridge.

She will take up a new role in September as director of the Regional Heritage Centre at Lancaster University.

Dr Edmonds pointed to survivals such as hogback tombs at Heysham, stone carving at Pennington Church, place names and the 2011 Furness Hoard as evidence of Viking influence in the district.

She said: “There is no doubt that the Vikings left an enduring legacy in the North as a whole and Furness in particular.”

As late as the early 15 th century there is written evidence of Furness still being seen by the authorities as an “island” cut off by the sea and wide estuaries.

Much earlier, the Vikings would have seen the area as part of a broad maritime world for settlement or plunder, including Scandinavia, the Scottish islands, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Dr Edmonds said new discoveries were increasing our knowledge of an age – from the late 700s to the mid-13 th century – when there was little surviving written evidence.

In 2004 a brooch found at Cumwhitton, near Carlisle, led to the discovery of six Viking graves.

The British Museum has a “Furness Head” found in Victorian times – possibly loot from a monastery which was filled to make a trading weight.

Another early find was a sword at Rampside, possibly pointing to a Viking burial in what later became a Christian churchyard.

The Furness Hoard, including 79 coins, was thought to be buried between 955 and 957 and can be seen at Barrow’s Dock Museum.

The district retains many place names which have Viking origins – such as Ulpha, Kirkby, Sowerby and Ulverston. Furness Abbey had strong links with the Viking Kingdom of the Isle of Man.

The Kings of Man were strong patrons of the abbey and from 1134 gave its abbots the unusual right to select bishops for the island.

You can find out more about upcoming events by the Iron Shepherds on the website at www.ironshepherdslivinghistory.co.uk