Barforth

{{Short description|Civil parish in County Durham, England}}

{{refimprove|date=June 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

| official_name = Barforth

| country = England

| region = North East England

| unitary_england= County Durham

| lieutenancy_england= County Durham

| constituency_westminster = Bishop Auckland

| population = 77

| population_ref = (2001 Census)

| post_town = DARLINGTON

| postcode_area = DL

| postcode_district = DL2

| dial_code =

| os_grid_reference = NZ167163

| label_position = left

| coordinates = {{coord|54.542|-1.743|display=inline,title}}

| static_image_name = St Lawrence's Chapel, Barforth.jpg

| static_image_alt = A ruined stone chapel in a field

| static_image_caption = The ruins of St. Lawrence's chapel, in Barforth, are among the few visible remains of Old Richmond.

}}

Barforth is a civil parish in the Teesdale area of County Durham, England, near Gainford. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 77. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. Information is therefore maintained in the parish of Ovington.{{NOMIS2011|id=E04010675|title=Ovington Parish|access-date=1 June 2025}} The northern border of the parish is the River Tees. Until the county boundary changes of 1974, the parish was in the county of North Yorkshire.{{cite book |title=Guide No. 6: North Yorkshire Gazetteer of Townships and Parishes |date=2021 |orig-date=1986 |publisher=North Yorkshire County Council |location=Northallerton |isbn=0 906035 29 5 |page=5}} The name of the parish derives from the Old English of bereford, meaning barley ford.{{cite book |last1=Ekwall |first1=Eilert |author-link=Eilert Ekwall |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names |date=1960 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |oclc=1228215388 |page=26 |edition=4}}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire |date=1979|orig-date=1928|oclc= 19714705|publisher=English Place Name Society|page=298}}