Barrowford is a large village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It is situated to the north of Nelson on the other side of the M65 motorway, and forms part of the Nelson conurbation. It also comprises the area of Lowerford and sometimes gets confused with its neighbour Higherford. The parish has a population of 6,171.
Barrowford is situated on the Marsden-Gisburn-Long Preston Turnpike. One of the original toll houses, dating from 1804–05, can still be seen at the junction with the road to Colne, complete with a reproduction of the table of tolls which were paid. The toll house was restored in the 1980s and is owned by the trust which operates nearby Pendle Heritage Centre. Barrowford is located about a mile from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and a set of seven locks leads to the highest section of the canal between Barrowford and Barnoldswick.
About a mile on from the locks heading towards Leeds is Foulridge Tunnel known locally as the mile tunnel. The packhorse bridge near Higherford Mill is the oldest in Barrowford, dating back to the end of the 16th century. It formerly lay on the old main road to Gisburn which was superseded by the Turnpike road built in 1804. In September 2006 this mill was featured on the BBC's Restoration programme.
The village has a modern Anglican church (St Thomas') built to replace the original church of 1839 which burnt down in 1964. St Thomas's Primary School recently moved from its Victorian premises to a new building next door to the church.
The village has two rivers. Pendle Water flows through the town with trout that can often be seen. The other river is Colne Water, which joins Pendle Water behind the site of the now demolished Samuel Holden cotton mill and this river flows down from the moors above the town of Colne, again this river holds good trout.
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