Barrow Hill

The village of Barrow Hill grew up around the collieries and ironworks owned by Richard Barrow, known locally as Staveley Works. Today the collieries and iron foundaries are closed and the village is better known for a relic of the railways - Barrow Hill Roundhouse.

During the 'golden age' of steam, locomotives had to be repaired, watered, coaled and turned around. This work took place in a roundhouse, a building which took its name from its conical roof. In the 1860s roundhouses grew larger and lost their conical roofs, but kept their name. When the age of steam drew to a close, many roundhouses were shut down and demolished. In Barrow Hill, however, the roundhouse was used for the diesel trains which moved coal from the local mines.

British Rail finally closed Barrow Hill Roundhouse in 1991 and it was due to be demolished. Thanks to a local society set up to save it, Barrow Hill remains the only operational roundhouse in Britain and, today, it houses one of the largest collections of diesel, electric and steam locomotives in the country.

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