BARHAM

 This pretty village stands on the major road that connects Dover, Canterbury and Folkestone, at the head of the beautiful Elham Valley. It contains many historic buildings, and as yet, I've not had time to explore it fully.

Because of its' position, high on the Barham Downs on the main road between Dover and London, it has been used as a military staging post over the centuries, from Roman times to the Napoleonic Wars.

It was here that the Romans camped on their way inland from their Thanet landing. William the Conqueror here met the Men of Kent and heard them swear fealty, and took delivery of the hostages they surrendered, an oath subsequently relinquished in return for accepting William's rule but remaining unconquered.

It was here that William, son of King Stephen, fell from his horse, breaking his thigh, on his way to meet the Earl of Flanders, and it was here that King John camped with his 50,000 men in preparation for war with France.

Simon de Montfort assembled a huge force on Barham Downs in 1265 during the Barons' War, and in 1422, Henry VI came from being crowned in Paris to be met here by his Barons and Commons and escorted to Canterbury then on to London.

Margate, Duchess of Burgundy met her brother Edward IV in a tent on the Downs here. Charles I picnicked here during his return to London with his bride-to-be, and during the Civil War, Royalist troops massed here for their attack on Dover Castle. Charles II was welcomed home here by the Kentish Regiment of Foot in 1660. During the Napoleonic Wars, Barham Down was again covered with tents of an army awaiting embarkation.

 

It provided the home for one of the four knights who, in 1175, murdered St Thomas Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral. As a result the family adopted the name of this village and descendants with that family name can be found in many countries of the world. 

The parish contains 77 listed structures, not only buildings but walls, a footbridge and -
...a 1936 classic telephone kiosk.

The parish church of St. John The Baptist stands on a hill, overlooking the oldest part of the village 

For a start, this is the Old Valley Road, now just a quiet lay-by.

In Spring, the village is alive with spring daffodils. They line the main road for about a mile outside the village and right through the centre. They also adorn  Church Lane, Old Valley Road, and just about every open green space.