Barrow upon Soar is a large village in northern
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, in the
Soar Valley
The Soar Valley in Leicester- and Nottinghamshire, England is the basin of the River Soar, which rises south of Leicester and flows north through Charnwood before meeting the River Trent at Trent Lock.
Soar Valley embraces the large village ...
between
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
and
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
, with a population at the 2011 census of 5,856.
Geography
Barrow lies on the east bank of the
River Soar
The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicest ...
, where the river is joined by the Fishpool Brook.
British Gypsum
BPB Ltd (formerly BPB plc) (British Plaster Board) was a British building materials business. It once was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2005, the company was purchased by Saint-Gobain of France. The company subsidiary British Gypsum, ...
has a plant at Barrow, and the parish is adjacent to the
Swithland Reservoir
Swithland Reservoir is a reservoir in the English county of Leicestershire. It is north-east of the village of Swithland from which it takes its name, north-west of Rothley and approximately south-west of Mountsorrel Quarry. It is part of the ...
.
Barrow upon Soar is part of the local government district of
Charnwood.
Transport
Road
The village is near the
A6 Road This is a list of roads designated A6.
* A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile
* ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to :
** A6 (Sydney), a road connec ...
from
Quorn
Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin.
Quorn is sold as bo ...
.
Rail
Barrow-upon-Soar railway station
Barrow-upon-Soar railway station serves the large village of Barrow-upon-Soar in Leicestershire, England. The station is located on the Midland Main Line between Leicester and Loughborough, north of St Pancras railway station, London St Pancr ...
is situated on the
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands.
...
, and
Ivanhoe Line trains stop there. The
Mountsorrel Railway
The Mountsorrel Railway was a network of industrial railway lines that served the granite quarries which dominate the Leicestershire village of Mountsorrel. After being closed in the 1950s, a section was reopened in 2015 as a heritage line run ...
, carrying
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
from the
Mountsorrel
Mountsorrel is a village in Leicestershire on the River Soar, just south of Loughborough with a population in 2001 of 6,662 inhabitants, increasing to 8,223 at the 2011 census.
Geography
The village is in the borough of Charnwood, surrounding ...
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
, used to run to here; the line from Mountsorrel is still followed by a mineral conveyor to Barrow, where quarry rock is sorted for distribution.
Bus
The village is served by the
Kinchbus 2 service that runs between
Sileby
Sileby is a former industrial village and civil parish in the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, between Leicester and Loughborough. Nearby villages include Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Seagrave and Cossington. The popul ...
and
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
and
Centrebus
Centrebus is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.
Centrebus have a 51% shareholding in High Peak Buses and since December 2019 through c ...
service 27 between
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
and
Thurmaston
Thurmaston is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Leicestershire, England, located within the Borough of Charnwood. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, it had a population of 9,668.
It is situated four miles ...
.
History
The village's name means 'grove situated on the
River Soar
The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicest ...
'.
White's ''History, Gazetteer and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland'' (1877) says
The village is known for a
plesiosaur
The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia.
Plesiosaurs first appeared ...
that was
excavated here in 1851. The specimen of ''
Atychodracon megacephalus
''Atychodracon'' is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurian known from the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic boundary (probably early Hettangian stage) of England. It contains a single species, ''Atychodracon megacephalus'', named in 1846 ...
'', found in a lime pit outside the village, was nicknamed the "Barrow Kipper". At the centre of the village is a roundabout with a sign depicting its skeleton. The skeleton is now on display at the
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
The Leicester Museum & Art Gallery (until 2020, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery) is a museum on New Walk in Leicester, England, not far from the city centre. It opened in 1849 as one of the first public museums in the United Kingdom. Leiceste ...
, with a full-size replica at
Charnwood Museum
Charnwood Museum is a local history museum in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England.
Overview
It is accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). It is managed in partnership between Leicestershire County Council and Charnw ...
in Loughborough. The village's
football club
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...
has the skeleton on its badge.
Twinning
Barrow upon Soar is twinned with
Marans, Charente-Maritime
Marans () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), southwestern France.
It is connected to La Rochelle by the Canal de Marans à La Rochelle. The inhabita ...
, in France.
Notable people
:''In chronological order''
*
Tobias Rustat
Tobias Rustat (bapt. 17 September 1608 – 15 March 1694 N. S.) was a courtier to King Charles II and a benefactor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered for creating the first fund for the purchase of books at the Cambridge Universit ...
(1608–1694), courtier and philanthropist
*
William Beveridge
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 194 ...
(1637–1708),
Bishop of St Asaph
The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph.
The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is loca ...
, was born at Barrow, of which his grandfather, father, and brother were all vicars.
*
Ralph Heathcote
Ralph Heathcote (1721–1795) was an English cleric and writer.
Life
He was born on 19 December 1721 at Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, where his father (died 1765), later vicar of Sileby and rector of Morton, Derbyshire, was then curate. His m ...
(1721–1795), clergyman and author, was born at Barrow, where his father was curate.
*
John Bradshaw (1812–1880), clergyman and cricketer, was born here.
*
Lieutenant-General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Edward Chippindall (1827–1902), British Army officer and
Aide-de-camp to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, lived in Barrow upon Soar for the last twenty years of his life and was a member of the
Quorn Hunt
The Quorn Hunt, usually called the Quorn, established in 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt. Its country is mostly in Leicestershire, together with some smaller areas of ...
.
*
Henry Melvill Gwatkin
Henry Melvill Gwatkin (30 July 1844 – 14 November 1916) was an England, English theologian and church historian.
Gwatkin was born at Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, the youngest son of the Rev. Richard Gwatkin,"Gwatkin, Henry Melvill" in ''A ...
(1844–1916), church historian, was born at Barrow, a son of the Rev. Richard Gwatkin.
*
Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp (1851 – 11 February 1903), was an English dramatist and journalist.
After beginning his career writing for newspapers, Stephens began writing Victorian burlesques in the 1870s in coll ...
(1851–1903), a playwright and journalist, was from Barrow
*
Frank Darvall Newham
Canon Frank Darvall Newham (7 June 1864Venn, J. A., ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' – 6 March 1946) was an Anglican priest and educator from Barrow upon Soar who spent most of his career in Cyprus. He was the Director of Education of Cyprus under the ...
(1864–1946), a schoolmaster and clergyman who spent most of his career in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, was from Barrow upon Soar.
*
Harold Wright (1884–1915), a cricketer, was born in Barrow and died of wounds during the First World War.
*
John Stafford Curtis (1887–1972), cricketer, was a native of the village.
*
Sir Franklin Gimson,
Governor of Singapore
The Governors of Singapore were the political leaders of Singapore during its pre-independence phase in the history of Singapore.
Residents of Singapore (1819–1826)
The Resident of Singapore ruled the British colony that is today the Republi ...
, was born in Barrow in 1890, the son of a local clergyman.
*
Alfred Matts
Alfred Shipley Matts (2 April 1893 — 20 June 1970) was an English cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler who played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club, Leicestershire.
Matts was born in Barrow-upon-Soar"Matts A ...
(1893–1970), cricketer, was a native of Barrow
*
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...
Johnnie Johnson (1915–2001), a
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
, was born here.
*
Peter Preston
Peter John Preston (23 May 1938 – 6 January 2018) was a British journalist and author. He was editor of ''The Guardian'' for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995.
Early life
Peter Preston was born in Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, the son of J ...
(1938–2018), editor of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' from 1975 to 1995, was born here, the son of a greengrocer,
*
Paul Munden (born 1938), cricketer, was born at Barrow upon Soar.
*
Brian Reffin Smith
Brian Reffin Smith (born 1946) is an artist, writer, teacher and musician born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom, who won the first-ever Prix Ars Electronica, the Golden Nica, in Linz, Austria, 1987. He lives in Berlin, Germany.
Life
Br ...
(born 1946), an artist and writer, attended the
Humphrey Perkins School in Barrow.
*
Mick Bates (born 1947), a Welsh Assembly member, taught at the Humphrey Perkins School.
*
Martin Schepens
Martin Schepens (born 12 August 1955) is a former English cricketer. Schepens was a right-handed batsman who bowled leg breaks. He was born at Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire.
Schepens made his first-class debut for Leicestershire against C ...
, a cricketer, was born in Barrow in 1955.
["SCHEPENS Martin / MARTIN" in ''Register of Births for Leicester Central'' vol 3a (1955), p. 608]
*
Sally Barker
Sally Barker (born 19 September 1959) is a British singer and songwriter, known for her solo work and as a founding member of the Poozies. In 2014, she was a finalist in the BBC One talent contest ''The Voice'', finishing in joint second place. ...
(born 1959), singer songwriter, of
The Poozies
The Poozies are a British all-female folk music, traditional folk band formed in 1990. They were at the forefront of a wave that revolutionised traditional Scottish music, Scottish and Gaelic music in the 1990s. Throughout the years they have ...
, is from Barrow.
*Geoffrey North, editor of ''
Current Biology
''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, var ...
'', is from Barrow.
Sport
The village has an
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club,
Barrow Town FC. The club plays its home games at Riverside Park and currently competes in the
East Midlands Counties Football League
The East Midlands Counties Football League was an English football league that operated from 2008 to 2021, covering the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands. The league had one division, which stood a ...
, the 10th tier of English football.
References
External links
Village websiteBarrow Upon Soar Heritage Group website (archive)*
{{authority control
Villages in Leicestershire
Civil parishes in Leicestershire
Borough of Charnwood