Barham, Kent
Historical Description
Barham, a village, a parish, and downs in Kent. The village stands in a valley, under the downs, about 3½ miles SW of Adisham, on the S.E.R., 6 SE of Canterbury, and 76 from London. There is a post, money order, and telegraph office under Canterbury. The parish comprises 4698 acres; population, 1014. The subsoil is chiefly chalk. The manor belonged early to the see of Canterbury, and was held by Reginald Fitzurse, one of Thomas a Becket's murderers, and afterwards by Fitzurse's descendants till the time of James I. The principal residences are Broome Park, the seat of the Oxenden family, and Barham Court, the seat of the Dering family. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; gross value, £750 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is Early Decorated English, and has a lofty spire and some neat monuments. It was well restored in 1886. Digges the mathematician had connection with the parish, and Admiral Sir T. Thomson was a native. The downs extend from SE to NW along the line of Wathng Street, and are about 3 miles long. Numerous barrows are on them, of times from early British to later Saxon, showing them to have been scenes of many ancient public events. King John with his army of 60,000 men encamped on them in 1213, prior to resigning the crown; Simon de Montford assembled his troops on them in the time of Henry III., to oppose the landing of Queen Eleanor; Queen Henrietta Maria, after her landing at Dover in 1625, was met on them by the flower of the English nobility; lastly, several regiments lay posted on them in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, to oppose his threatened invasion from Boulogne. Traces of the camp of these regiments, and also a small square ancient camp, still exist.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Kent | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Barham St. John the Baptist | |
Hundred | Kinghamford | |
Lathe | St. Augustine | |
Poor Law union | Bridge |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1558.
Findmypast have the following online for Barham, St John the Baptist: baptisms 1558-1912, marriages 1558-1928, burials 1558-1959
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Baptist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Baptist is an ancient building of flint and rubble, chiefty in the Decorated style, with portions of Early English work, and has a western tower of Perpendicular date, with spire, and containing a clock and 4 bells; the church was restored in 1886, at a cost of £2,000; there are several stained windows, and about 450 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Barham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Barham (St. John the Baptist))
Maps
Online maps of Barham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.