England
England facts and history
in brief
Folkestone
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Folkestone is a coastal resort town in the Shepway district
of Kent, England. Hovercraft and ferry services formerly
connected the town to both Boulogne and Calais in France,
together with the still present Channel Tunnel.
Satellite towns include Capel-Le-Ferne,
Cheriton, Hythe and Hawkinge.
Folkestone was a Norman stronghold on, or near the
site of a Saxon fort and became known from its
connection with the priory of St. Eanswythe.
Archeological finds from a 1st Century cemetery were
discovered in 1948 at Cheriton, to the West of Folkestone,
but the name of the town of Folkestone in Kent has its
origin in the late 7th Century as 'Folcanstan', in all
probability referring to the ‘stone of Folca’,
a common old English name.
In about 635 AD, King Eadbald
built a priory on the western cliff at Folkestone, for
Eanswythe, his daughter, and her nuns.
This was the first Christian community
for women in Britain.
Her name lends itself to the parish church of
St. Mary's and St. Eanswythe where her mortal
remains are believed to be interned.
Viking raids were common to the area and left extensive
damage to the settlements at Folkestone up until the
10th Century, and even after Edward the Confessor came
to the throne in 1042, the village was again put to
the torch by Earl Godwin of Wessex, after being exiled
by the king.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
Folkestone contained about 120 houses.
Folkestone Railways
The railway reached Folkestone on 28 June 1843, although
the building of the Foord viaduct delayed further extension
until the following year, when what was to become Folkestone
Junction station was opened.
Once the line was opened to Dover, and the
town’s prosperity (which meant
growth westwards), further stations were opened at Folkestone
West (originally named Shorncliffe Camp) in 1863, and
Folkestone Central in 1884.
‘’’Folkestone
Harbour’’’ station was used to trans-ship
whole trains: the line from the junction was very steep
and needed much additional locomotive help.
Folkestone as a holiday resort
Between 1848 and 1868, Folkestone grew apace.
Much of such development was intimately linked to the Radnor
family, which owned, and still owns, a significant amount
of land in the town and its surroundings.
A rare surviving example of a Victorian water-powered
lift remains in operation at the Leas Cliff promenade
and offers access from the Leas to the seafront and
Coastal Park Amphitheatre, and the Rotunda Amusement
Park (under threat of closure).
Folkestone has suffered much deprivation since the end
of the Second World War.
The rise of foreign holiday destination, added
in no small way by the package holiday, damaged
Folkestone tourism business, as with most British
holiday resorts.
The likelihood that domestic services will be able
to use the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, placing Folkestone
less than one hour from London by High Speed Train is
expected to contribute to a revival of Folkestone's
fortunes.
Near Folkestone is the 'Battle of Britain Museum' on
Aerodrome Road at Hawkinge. (Tel: 01303 893 140).
It is claimed to house the "most important collection
of Battle of Britain artifacts on show in the country:
aircraft, vehicles, weapons, saucepans, flying equipment,
prints, relics from over 600 crashed aircraft."
A Russian submarine(U-475) was on display at the
harbour but was moved in 2002.
External links
For a more information about
Folkestone see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This page was retrieved and condensed from
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkestone) November
2005
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License (see
Copyrights for details).
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
This information was correct in November 2005. E. & O.E.
Sarolta and I visited this place during our
trip around the British Isles in 1978.
You can click on
these photos for an enlargement.
1978
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