Silkstone Parish

BARNSLEY, a market-town, in the parish of Silkstone, wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 8 miles from Penistone, 10 from Wakefield, 12 from Rotherham, 14 from Sheffield and Pontefract, 15 from Doncaster, 18 from Huddersfield, 38 from York, 176¾ from London. Market, Wednesday. Fairs, the Wednesday before February 28, May 13, and October 11, for horses, horned cattle, pigs, &c. Bankers, Messrs. Beckett, Birks, and Co., draw on Messrs. Sir Richard Carr Glyn, Bart. Mills, and Co., 12, Birchin Lane; Messrs. Wentworth and Co., draw on Messrs. Wentworth and Co., 25, Threadneedle Street. Principal Inns, White Bear and King's Head. Pop. 8,284. The Church, rebuilding, is a perpetual curacy under Silkstone.

Here is a Free Grammar school, founded and endowed in 1665; by Thomas Keresforth, Gent. Barnsley, situated upon the declivity of a hill, among coal pits and iron works, has nothing to interest the antiquary. It is tolerably well built of stone; and it has long been celebrated for the excellence of its wire, in which article the inhabitants still continue to do considerable business; and of late years the manufactory of linens has been carried on at this place to a very great extent. Here are two Iron Foundries for casting of steam engines, grates, &c.