The village gets part of its name from the Old Norse word thwaite which usually refers to a clearing or settlement in the forest.
History
The village was originally a Viking settlement, but it has been suggested that there may have been a settlement of sorts there before the Vikings arrived.[3]
In the 18th century there were two iron furnaces near the village, one at Backbarrow and the other at Low Wood. The furnace at Backbarrow was supplied from 1711 with iron ore from Low Furness which would have arrived at the quays in Haverthwaite and been transported to Backbarrow by horse and cart. In 1860 the Furness Railway opened its branch line that ran from Ulverston to Lakeside and almost overnight the quays fell into disuse.[4]
In 1798 Low Wood gunpowder works was established and continued production until 1935. The nearby River Leven was used to transport the finished product.[5]
The vicarage was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the new route of the A590.[citation needed]
St Anne's Church was originally a chapel under Colton; it was consecrated in 1825 and extended in 1838. When it was built, it received a grant on condition that 200 sittings were to be 'free and unappropriated for ever'.[6] It appears in the music video of Never Went to Church by The Streets.[7]
