Barrhill is a lightly populated locality in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated on the Canterbury Plains, on the right bank of the Rakaia River, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) inland from Rakaia. It was founded by Cathcart Wason in the mid-1870s and named by him after his old home Barrhill in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Wason set it up as a model village for the workers of his large sheep farm. The population of the village peaked in the mid-1880s before the general recession initiated a downturn for the village. Wason had expected for the Methven Branch railway to run past Barrhill, but the line was built in 1880 on an alignment many miles away, which caused Barrhill population to decrease.

John Cathcart Wason, generally known as Cathcart Wason, was a Scottish farmer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament in two countries: first in New Zealand and then in Scotland. He established Barrhill, a model village, and after the failure of this colonial venture, he returned to Scotland. An unusually large man, he is noted both as an innovative farmer and for having passed his time in the British House of Commons by knitting.