A little History

Barrow is an ancient Christian site as it was here in the seventh century that St Chad founded a monastery on land given by Wilfhere, King of Mercia.

In 1697 Henry Harrison and his family moved into a cottage in Barrow (On Barton Lane). Henry Harrison became a parish clerk until his death in 1728. The family were coffin makers and carpenters who also worked on the repair and construction of church furniture and bell frames. Henry had two sons, John and James. John was to become the famous clockmaker who changed the face of marine navigation by developing a clock that would remain accurate on board a ship with violent extremes of movement and temperature. His struggle to prove his that invention worked and to win the £ 320,000 prize offered by the Board of Longitude is well documented in Dava Sobel's novel Longitude which was adapted into a television series staring Michael Gambon and Jeremy Irons.

In 1733 James made the bell frame for York Minster. The frame, which housed a peal of twelve bells, was a major commission and in fact was the largest frame he ever built. Later in life he began casting bells with his son Henry at a foundry in Barrow and this business was passed on through the family from father to son until 1789. James lived in a water mill at Market Rasen from approximately 1753 onwards but he retained an interest in Barrow and following his death in 1766 James was returned to Barrow upon Humber for burial in the village of his birth.

Services

11am:

• 1st Sunday - Morning Prayer (11.15 if there are Baptisms)
• 2nd & 4th Sundays -Holy Communion
• 3rd Sunday - All Age Worship
• 5th Sundays -variable.

Vicar

• Revd John Girtchen. 01469 531537

Churchwardens

• John Cherry. 01469 531613
• Kath Wells. 01469 531624