THE artwork held in Barrow Library's archives is being showcased in a free exhibition.

A display featuring drawings, sketches and watercolours from local and international artists can be viewed from Monday to Saturday each week.

Pieces by George Romney, Ben Lones, Abel Masson and Howard Penton are among the rarities in the collection.

Archivist Susan Benson says: "Local people probably don’t realise that the archives hold such works of art.

"Many assume that we just have old documents. We have three sketchbooks from George Romney from the 1770s, six paintings by French painter Abel Masson, a large number of sketches of local places by Ben Lones, and numerous caricatures and cartoons of local people and events.

"This is a great opportunity for everyone to visit and see special and rare works of art."

Dalton-born portrait painter George Romney is the best-known of the artists represented, with three of his original sketch books, including work from a tour of Italy between 1773 and 1775.

Also in the display is work showing daily life on Walney by Abel Masson. The Parisian was seemingly living in Ulverston according to the 1881 census, before moving to London after the turn of the 20th Century.

Another to feature is Ben Lones, who was born in Glasgow in March 1884, and became a shipyard apprentice in Barrow. Many of his drawings featured in the Evening Mail in the 1940s, and he donated much of his collection to the library when he died in 1974.

Richard Howard Penton served in the First World War and spent his later years painting in France, but created a number of paintings and drawings of Barrow, including one of the launch of the Japanese warship Mikasa in 1900.

There is also mention in the displays of Lake District visitors who recorded what they saw, including William Gell who made drawings of beauty spots in 1797.

Visitors can look at the original artworks in the Barrow Archive from Wednesday to Friday each week, and in the exhibition in the main library during its regular opening hours, from 9.30am to 5pm.