when Folkestone was a ferry port

Throughout the centuries Folkestone was a small fishing community with a seafront that was continually battered by storms and encroaching shingle that made it hard to land boats - until a pier and harbour was built by Thomas Telford in 1809. By 1820 a harbour area of 14 acres (5.7 hectares) had been enclosed.

Folkstone's trade and population grew slightly but development was still hampered by sand and silt from the Pent Stream continuing to choke the harbour. The Folkestone Harbour Company invested heavily in removing the silt but with little success. In 1842 the company became bankrupt and the Government put the derelict harbour up for sale. It was bought by the South Eastern Railway Company, which was then building the London to Dover railway line. In 1844 George Turnbull was responsible for building the Horn pier. Dredging the harbour, and the construction of a rail route down to it, began almost immediately: the town soon became the SER’s principal packet station for ferry traffic to Boulogne in France.  The fortunes of the town began to reverse a century later after the end of WW2.  Like most British holiday resorts, the rise in popularity of holidays abroad damaged the local tourist industry.  The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 saw the end of ferry services in 2000 between Folkestone and Boulogne which seemed to spell the town’s demise (see the post on Boulogne).

In 2004 talks began between the leaders of Folkestone and Boulogne (Folkestone's twin-town), which had similar economic problems. Refurbishment of the town's infrastructure has begun with significant redevelopment of the town centre in a bid to make it more attractive to the local community and tourists.  A masterplan for Folkestone was published in April 2006 envisaging rebuilding the harbour as a marina, a "Green Wave" along the seafront linking countryside west and east of the town, new housing, shops, a performance area and small university campus. A new approach to the seafront is being developed - website - and a former fairground site is being considered for temporary recreational use. An alternative plan is based on retaining the harbour railway and its station as a major heritage/tourist operation and 'Leaving for War' museum. The harbour railway station, where the Orient Express would arrive from London, is now unused and gradually succumbing to nature.  More railway info and photos on this webpage.

The departure of the ferry for Boulogne was the subject of a well-known Edouard Manet painting in 1869.