THE new online Sankey Archive reveals how Barrow's architecture looked a century ago, with detailed images of the Coliseum cinema, the Corn Mill and George Romney's cottage. 

Some of the buildings remain while others are long gone - or their use has changed. This striking image is of the former home of the artist George Romney, which at the turn of the twentieth century was in a semi-derelict state. 

It was perched on top of the side of a quarry that was used to dig out Hawcoat sandstone, which was used extensively to build Barrow. The Town Hall and the docks were built using sandstone. The depth of the quarry gives an indication of how much stone was used. George Romney's home was finally refurbished by the Furness Railway in 1909 as a tourist attraction. It is now a private home. 

The Mail: George Romney's home at the turn of the century before it was refurbished as a tourist attraction George Romney's home at the turn of the century before it was refurbished as a tourist attraction (Image: Sankey Archive)

The Coliseum Cinema, on Abbey Road, opened in September 1914. It was built on the site of an earlier wooden theatre called the Hippodrome, which burnt down in a fire. The building housed four small shops as well as featuring an attractive copper dome and white tiles. 

READ MORE: Look back at Sankey Archive Pictures of Barrow Ship Yard

The photo was likely taken soon after the cinema opened, as it is advertising the Mary Fuller film 'Two Little Britons' which was released in October 1914. An interesting detail about the photo is the men having a conversation in the middle of the junction between Abbey Road and Holker Street. You can also clearly see the horse muck just before the junction. 

The Mail: George Romney's home after it was refurbished by the Furness Railway company. It eventually became a private residenceGeorge Romney's home after it was refurbished by the Furness Railway company. It eventually became a private residence (Image: Sankey Archive)

The cinema was used until 1964. Sadly, it stood derelict for many years until it was demolished in 1977. 

Built in 1936 on a vacant site at the corner of Abbey Road and Holker Street in Barrow, the large Ritz Cinema boasted over 1,700 seats, a café and a Compton theatre organ. Small shops faced Abbey Road. It changed names several times (ABC, Astra, Apollo) and was eventually sub-divided into three screens, but was ultimately replaced by a multiplex in another part of Barrow in 1999 and was demolished in 2003, following a fire.

A photo owned by the Sankeys but taken before their time was of the Ramsden Dock Cottages. The cottages, at the south end of what is now St Andrew's Street, housed workers who came to build the docks and houses to meet Barrow's rapidly expanding industry and population. 

The cottages were notorious for outbreaks of smallpox, typhoid and cholera. 

The Mail: The cottages, where many of the workers who built Barrow lived, were notorious for poor sanitary conditions The cottages, where many of the workers who built Barrow lived, were notorious for poor sanitary conditions (Image: Sankey Archive)

The Corn Mill at Devonshire Dock was built in 1871. It was known to many as Walmsley and Smith's, despite the company only owning it between 1880 and 1903 before it was taken over by Liverpool firm Hutchinson. It was reduced to milling animal feed before closing in 1967. 

The ground floor was leased to Docker's Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers in 1967, but the building came to a sad end in a fire in 1972. 

The Mail: The Corn Mill at Devonshire Dock would see less and less use until it met its sad end in a fire in the early 1970s The Corn Mill at Devonshire Dock would see less and less use until it met its sad end in a fire in the early 1970s (Image: Sankey Archive)

The Sankey collection is an archive of photos that were taken by, or in the possession of, the Sankey family in Barrow. They document the town and Cumbria during its industrial peak in the early to mid-twentieth century. The collection is now in the Cumbria Archives.