Furness Railway Company named Raven after the Biblical story of the prophet Elijah being fed by ravens.

The boat was built to take supplies to the remote farms, houses and hotels around the lake at a time when the only other means of transport was by horse and cart over very poor roads.

During winter Raven acted as an ice-breaker for the Furness Railway passenger steamers.

Competition from road transport meant the end of Raven’s career as a cargo ship in 1922 and it was sold to Vickers Armstrong for testing mine-laying equipment.

In the 1950’s the vessel was nearly broken up, but George Pattinson purchased and restored it.

In 1971 the boiler and engine were overhauled and Raven steamed down the lake on its 100th birthday.

After more than forty years on the water as a museum boat, Raven has now been taken out of the lake and stabilised, in line with our conservation management plan, and is awaiting further conservation. The engine is on display in the main museum.