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Broughton-in-Furness was recorded as Brocton in 1196. It was an important market town, the charter being granted in the reign of Elizabeth I, but not a borough. Some of the inhabitants spun woollen yarns at home, and sold them to the manufacturers of Yorkshire. This was replaced by the making of hoops and baskets (locally called swills), brush and tool shafts, the material being supplied from the coppice wood which abounds in the Furness fells. There was also trade in bark and blue slate. The Lord of the Manor has leased land on generous terms, allowing the tenants to mortgage their holdings. A court-baron was held yearly at the King's Head. The manor was held by the Broughtons until 1487, then by the Earls of Derby until 1651, and the Sawreys until 1920 (however these were not all truly Sawreys, but added that name to their own.

Broughton Tower A spacious mansion built round a pele tower built by the Broughtons in 1322. It was held by the Earls of Derby until 1651, then the Sawrey family and others who took the Sawrey name until 1920. On the N side the tower is visible up to about 18m. Its basement is tunnel-vaulted and there is a spiral staircase. The Gilpin Sawreys built the house in the 18C, and there is a charming centre to the S front with a porch of clustered shafts. The windows are all ogee-headed. Wings were added in similar style in 1882-3. It became Broughton Tower Residential Special School for delicate children, the registers of which exist from 1947-98. Now it is divided into apartments, the owners of which can enjoy the grounds. The footpaths on the estate were created in the 1990s after evidence of publc use was gathered; they had been omitted when the definitive map was drawn up.

The Square is the focal point of the town (see photos). New Street enters The square on the NW side, and is presumably a new road constructed in conjunction with the Square in the 18C. It provides a short cut from the Coniston Road. On it houses vary from a cluster of cottages in a courtyard to the grand Broom Hill (now a guest house). At the north corner of the Square are the gates of Broughton Tower, and at the NE corner Knott Lane leads to Wilson Park, which was conveyed to Duddon Parish Council by the Broughton Tower Estate on the condition that it is only used for recreation.

At the SE corner Market Street leads towards Kepplewray and Ulverston, and off it Brade Street which has the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, built of Kirkby stone in the Victorian 'Early English' style. This is on the corner with Princes Street, which has the Black Cock Inn and a bank (see photo of Griffin Street).

At the SW corner Griffin Street leads down to Church Street (see photos), which was called Old Street in 1888 and leads up to High Cross and Millom.

To the south of the town, the Victory Hall is in Station Road and was built in 1929 for the people of Broughton in Furness by Sir Robert Rankin, Lord of the Manor. It serves as a focal point for a widespread rural community. By the end of the century it needed refurbishing, and it was designated a National Flagship Hall, one of twelve, by the National Lottery Millennium Commission under its 21st Century Halls for England Scheme. Near to it is the Old Kings Head Hotel. The former station was on the Coniston branch of the Furness Railway, which operated from 1859 to 1962. The Auction (Livestock) Mart is also in Station Road.

The Fire Station is in Foxfield Road; it was opened in 1963 to replace one of c.1946 in the grounds of the Broughton Tower Estate.

The Vicarage was at Kepplewray (I) in 1888. Near here were woodworking workshops. Up the hill is a 20C school.

The disused railway to the NE has been made into a cycle path.