[4] The church fell into a poor state of repair and was rebuilt in 1872 using designs by William Butterfield.

[7] In 1955 the Fox and Hounds, with its famous sign, was a pub located in the High Street, at the time part of an important route to London.

The sign, which was partially saved, moved to its present site and the existing pub (the Wagon and Horses) was renamed.

The village also includes a 17th-century lock-up[4] and an early Tudor town house with a large timbered upper room, which was mentioned by Daniel Defoe in a travel book in 1726.

[4] Listed in the Domesday Book as Berlei, the name Barley derived not from the local crop but from Beora's Ley, the woodland clearing of a Saxon Lord.

[9] Notable historical residents include William Warham,[10] Redcliffe and Nina Salaman, the Reverend Charles Oswald Miles, curate in 1882–5, and Thomas Willett, future Mayor of New York; his house, Willet's Cottage, was demolished in 1972.