Barlow village in Derbyshire

Barlow village in north Derbyshire has, during the last century, been transformed from a mining village to a centre where hunting,  fishing and holidays loom large in the economy of the area.  The Barlow Hunt meets regularly, self catering holiday accommodation is widely available and Barlow Trout and Coarse fishery has developed into one of the largest mixed fisheries in the north of England. 

On the edge of the Peak District, Barlow lies on the B6051, about 4.5 miles south of the Sheffield City boundary and roughly 4 miles to the north of the market town of Chesterfield.  The road through the village runs for about 1.5 miles from the boundary at the Chesterfield end near Engine Hollow to the Crowhole boundary to the north east, heading out towards Holmesfield and Sheffield.  Practically all the properties in the village are clustered along, or just off, this main thoroughfare. 

The old centre of the village is marked by the protected Coronation tree, which was planted to commemorate the crowning of King George V in 1911.  The tree can be found almost opposite the 1840 village pump near the bottom of Wilkin Hill.   
 
Barlow is an ancient village, which was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086.  At that time the village was known as Barleie.  After enduring a variety of different spellings such as Barlee and Barley the village became known as Barlow some time during the 1600’s. However, the old names persisted, and to this day, it is not uncommon to hear some of the older residents refer to the village as Barley.

Round about 1100 the village was owned by the d’Abitot family. They eventually became the de Barley’s a few generations down the line.  

During the 1800s, and probably before that, Barlow was divided into Little Barlow and Great Barlow. White's 1857 directory of Sheffield and Derbyshire had this to say : "Little Barlow is a small village and township intermixed with the parish of Great Barlow 4 miles N.W. by N. from Chesterfield and 10 miles south from Sheffield. The Dronfield parish (Little Barlow) contains 486 acres of land and in 1851 had 12 houses and 68 inhabitants of whom 41 were males and 27 females. Notwithstanding the houses are completely intermixed with Great Barlow and the land without any particular boundary, yet it keeps its own poor."  Great Barlow was in the Staveley parish and had 675 souls and 3372 acres.

The Church of St. Lawrence, which dates from the mid 1100’s, stands in the centre of the old village. The chantry chapel was added to the original Norman church in 1340 and a full restoration was carried out around 1870. The church contains the tomb of Robert Barley and his wife, Margaret, dated 1467.  This is often confused with the memorial to a later Robert Barley who was the first husband of Bess of Hardwick. (1527 - 1608 ) Robert died in 1542 and Bess went on to marry a further three times.  Inheriting money from her very rich husbands, she went on to build Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall.

In more recent times, during the early 20^th century, in addition to agriculture, Barlow became a mining village with over a dozen opencast sites and pits. None are in evidence now. Barlow Trout and Coarse fishery now occupies the 50 acre site of one old mine.

The properties along Rutland Terrace were once the homes of miners, but since their restoration in the mid 1970’s they are now privately owned. It is very doubtful whether any of them are currently occupied by actively employed coal workers.