The Sign
The sign is located on the green in the centre of the village. The main theme is the locomotive featured on the sign (named 'Chough') is part of a 15-inch narrow-gauge railway loop 350 yards in length which once ran at a farm in the village used for threshing and other tasks. The five-barred gates or hurdles relate to Edith Crack, She was the last of several generations of hurdle makers, and is believed to have been the only female hurdle maker in England. When she retired in 1978, this ancient craft ceased to be practiced in Barrow. The trees relate to the village name and the ducks are to be found on the village pond. It also features a sword (to represent the Bronze Age swords uncovered in 1850). The sign was erected in 1991 and designed locally.

The Name and Population
The name means "(Place at the) wood", from Old English. It was called Barro in the Domesday Book. The population was 1,677 at the 2011 census.

Other Points of Interest
The church is dedicated to All Saints.

In 1267, King Henry III (r. 1216-1277) granted Maud Passelewe the right to hold a weekly market at her manor in Barewe.

A prominent Barrovian is Mary Beale (1633-1699), born in the village as the daughter of the rector, John Cradock. She is almost certainly the first woman in England to earn her living from her art as a portrait painter. She studied under Sir Peter Lely among others and had a studio in London (where her husband was her assistant!) from 1670 until her death. She is buried at St James’s, Piccadilly. Some of her portraits may be seen in Moyses Hall Museum in Bury and at the National Portrait Gallery.