Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
The grand home flattened for BT offices
An up-market Georgian house formerly owned by a wealthy Russian family fell into disrepair before huge transformation...
The future of the austere Becket House building in New Dover Road, Canterbury, seems destined to be a conversion from offices into more than 50 flats - the plans for which have already been approved by the city council.
But these images and research supplied by city historian Paul Crampton reveal that much grander buildings once occupied the site, called Ersham House. Its origins were Georgian with a later, more attractive Regency extension, which was known as The Paddock.
It was the home of former Mayor of Canterbury Richard Halcroft, who was a wealthy financier with the local bank Baker & Co.
By the early 1920s it was the residence of a veterinary surgeon called Mr Cattell. After that it was occupied by a Russian family, but it was abandoned in the late 1920s and became increasingly derelict and the grounds overgrown.
Finally, the plot was divided into parcels, or lots, and offered for sale.
By the early 1930s Maltby’s Garage was being built on the corner of the front garden of Ersham House. Ersham House and The Paddock were demolished in 1934 and the Becket House office block and car park were erected in their place soon afterwards.
Telecoms giant BT has a long-term lease on the site and has occupied the offices for many years, using it as a call centre most recently.
It is owned by property company Telereal Trillium which was given permission to transform it into 53 flats three years ago.
Despite this, work has not yet started.
This came after Telereal launched a proposal to turn the prominent 1.1-hectare site into 118 homes in 2017.
The city council snubbed the proposals, for reasons including the loss of employment floor space, the impact on the local economy and the effect of the proposal on two adjoining conservation areas.
Telereal appealed the decision, but lost at a planning inquiry.
The late city councillor Jenny Samper, then chairman of the authority’s planning committee, said at the time: “Naturally we are pleased the inspector has supported our decision.
“This is a building in a prime location.
“It can still have a very important role to play in providing office accommodation in the city. “If the appeal had been allowed, it would have been lost forever.”
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