Barham Court is a fine old house in the village of Teston

Teston

Teston is a village in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 road out of Maidstone, four miles from the town centre. There is a narrow stone bridge over the River Medway here....

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.It was once the home of Reginald Fitz Urse

Reginald Fitzurse

Sir Reginald FitzUrse was one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170.His name is derived from Fitz which is a contracted form of the Norman-French fils de, meaning "son of" and Urse from the Latin ursus, meaning a bear, probable nom de guerre of his ancestor...

, one of the knights who murdered Thomas Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

 in 1170.

As a result of that deed, Fitz Urse fled to Ireland and the manor passed into the ownership of his kinsman, Robert de Berham. The de Berham family (now called Barhams) became one of the great families in Kent.

But at the end of Elizabeth I's reign, the property passed to Sir Oliver Boteler and his wife, Anne. The Botelers (later they changed their name to Butler) were Royalists

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 and Barham Court was sacked by Cromwell's New Army during the Civil War. William Butler, their son, was imprisoned in London for his support of the Kentish Royalist Petition of 1642, which indirectly led to the Battle of Maidstone

Battle of Maidstone

The Battle of Maidstone was fought in the Second English Civil War and was a victory for the attacking parliamentarian troops over the defending Royalist forces.- Background :...

 1648.

The last of the Butlers, Sir Philip, was responsible for changing the course of the old Tonbridge-Maidstone road, which used to run north of the church and then south of the house on its way to Barming

Barming

Barming is a civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It lies to the west of Maidstone, the county town, and had a population of 2234 persons . The eastern end of the parish is part of the built-up area of Maidstone, although the remainder is much more rural...

 and Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

. He had the road moved 'some hundred rods' (say five hundred and fifty yards) to the south.

When Edward Hasted

Edward Hasted

Edward Hasted was the author of a major county history, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent .-Life:...

 visited the house in the 18th century, then owned by the Bouverie family, he described it as the greatest ornament of this part of the county. After that it passed to the Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham

Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham

Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham PC was a British naval officer and politician.He was born at Leith, Midlothian to Robert Middleton, a customs collector of Bo'ness, Linlithgowshire, and Helen, daughter of Charles Dundas.-Naval career:Middleton entered the Royal Navy in 1741 as captain's...

.

William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...

was a frequent house guest of the first Lady Barham, who is said to have inspired and supported him in his fight against slavery. He loved the place and once wrote that 'for the charm of softness and elegance I never beheld a superior to Barham Court'.

The house was very badly damaged in a fire in the 1930s. Today the house itself has been converted into offices, with apartments attached.