The High Street is one of the finest in North Lincolnshire with many examples from the Georgian and early Victorian period. The streets radiating from the Market Place at one end, and from the Church at the other, also contain many buildings, grand and small, of architectural interest.
In the Market Place stands the remains of a medieval cross, sometimes known as the Butter Cross, its base worn by generations of use and opposite is the Royal Oak, one of the oldest buildings in the village, dating from the 17th century.
Near the Royal Oak once stood John Harrison’s workshop. John ‘Longitude’ Harrison lived and worked in Barrow for the first half of his long life. A self-taught clockmaker, his work finally enabled sailors to navigate accurately and so more safely. Some of his other inventions are still in common use today. To find out more, visit Holy Trinity Church at the other end of the High Street, which contains the famous portrait of Harrison and an informative display about him and the village.
Along the way you will see ‘Papist Hall’, one of Barrow’s oldest houses and one of the earliest to be built in brick. ( image of Paspist Hall below)
A stream called The Beck flows through the village and where it passes beneath Beck Lane, there is a restored hand-operated pump. The stream flows out to the Humber at Barrow Haven, where there are moorings, an operational wharf and earthworks which are the remains of a Norman castle. There is also a railway halt for trains on the Barton-upon-Humber to Cleethorpes line. Between the village and Barrow Haven are the Blow Wells, managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
