BARNSLEY, or Bnacx BARNSLEY, mentioned in Domesday Book as Bernesleye, a town and municipal borough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 171 miles from London and about 11 north of Sheffield. It is situated on rising ground to the west of the River Dearne, in a district of considerable natural beauty. The manufacture of iron and steel, and the weaving of linen and other cloth, are the two principal industries ; but there are also bleachfields, printfields, dyeworks, sawmills, cornmills, and malt-houses; and the manufacture of glass, needles, and wire is still carried on. The last-mentioned industry dates from the reign of James I., and was for a long time the staple of the place. There are large coal-fields in the neighbourhood, which, indeed, extend under the town ; and these afford employment to considerable numbers. The coal is largely exported to London and Hull, for domestic and other purposes, the coke formed from it also being in great demand. Besides the means of communication afforded by several railway lines, Barnsley has the advantage of two canals, the one known as the Barnsley-and-Wakefield and the other as the Dearne-and-Dove. Among the more important of its public buildings are the church of St Mary's, St George's (built in 1823), St John's (1858), the county court (1861), and the bank (1S61). There are a number of educational and benevolent institutions of some importance ; the free grammar school dates from 1665, a subscription library was started in 1808, and a philosophical society was founded in 1828. In 1862 a handsome park of about 20 acres was presented to the town by the widow of Joseph Locke, M.P. About a mile from the town are the ruins of Monk Bretton, a Cluniac priory. Population in 1871, 23,021.