The English town of Barnsley is located within the area of South Yorkshire within England. The town is located on the banks of the River Dearne. The town of Barnsley is located about eleven miles to the north of he city of Sheffield, about seventeen miles to the south of the city of Leeds and about fourteen miles to the west of Doncaster. The town of Barnsley is surrounded by a vast number of smaller settlements and all of these together form the metropolitan borough that is known as Barnsley. Barnsley is the administrative centre for the metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough has a population of about two hundred and eighteen thousand and sixty three.

The town of Barnsley was once part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was once an industrial town that was centred on the glassmaking and coal mining industry. Both of these industries were greatly reduced by the twentieth century. There is a lot of the local culture that still has firm roots within the industrial heritage of the area. The town has a strong tradition of brass bans and these were first created as a social club within a mining community.

Most of the town centre of Barnsley was developed during the 1960's and like most other town centres it has became less aesthetically pleasing over the years. The centre of the town is home to the some of the national high street chains including HMV, Carphone Warehouse and Boots to name a few.