Barrow upon Soar

Bridge over the River Soar next to the Navigation

Barrow Upon Soar parish church

Interior view of the church of the Holy Trinity

The "Barrow Kipper" plesiosaur skeleton at the New Walk Museum

Barrow upon Soar is a large village in northern Leicestershire, in the Soar Valley between Leicester and Loughborough. It has a population of around 5,000 and is part of the Charnwood local government district.

It lies on the east bank of the River Soar at its confluence with the Fishpool Brook, and is just opposite the A6 from Quorn. The village is on the Midland Main Line, and Ivanhoe Line trains stop at the Barrow-upon-Soar railway station. The Mountsorrel Railway, carrying granite from the Mountsorrel quarries, used to run here; the line from Mountsorrel is still followed by a mineral conveyor to Barrow, where quarry rock is sorted for distribution.

The village is famous for a plesiosaur excavated there in 1851, of the species Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus, nicknamed the "Barrow Kipper". The dinosaur was found in a lime pit outside the village, and a roundabout with a sign representing its skeleton lies at the centre of the village. The skeleton is on display at the New Walk Museum in Leicester.

Twinning

Barrow Upon Soar is twinned with Marans in France.

External links

• Community website
• Barrow Voice
• Barrow Heritage
• Barrow Signpost

• Barrow [-upon-Soar] in the Domesday Book