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, as its name indicates, on the east bank of River Soar (At the point where the Fishpool Brook joins it), 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 of the village, and a roundabout with a sign representing its skeleton lies at the centre of the village. The actual bones are on display at the Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery on New Walk in Leicester.
Barrow Upon Soar is twinned with Marans in France,[1] as is displayed on signs when exiting and entering the village via road travel.
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