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Folkestone in Kent County England History and GeographyFOLKESTONE, a parish in the hundred of FOLKESTONE, lathe of SHEPWAY, county of KENT, comprising the sea-port and market town of Folkestone, which has a separate jurisdiction, the hamlet of Ford, and part of the hamlet of Sandgate, and containing 4541 inhabitants, of which number, 3989 are in the town of Folkestone, 37¼ miles (E.S.E.) from Maidstone, and 71 (E.S.E.) from London. This place, called by the Saxons Fulcestane, and in Domesday-book Fullcheston, is by some antiquaries supposed to have been a Roman station, though its particular name has not been ascertained. A great quantity of Roman coins has been found here, and on one of the hills in the immediate vicinity of the town are the remains of a quadrilateral fortification, of which the vallum and fosse are plainly discernible. Though supposed to have been a Castra Stativa of the Romans, it was probably only one of those forts which that people, in the reign of Theodosius the Younger, erected at different intervals for the defence of the southern coast, and of which, or of other similar fortifications, traces may be observed along the whole ridge of hills which terminates the plain. Eadbald, the sixth king of Kent, built a castle here, on the high cliff, close to the sea shore, which having been reduced to a heap of ruins by the Danes, and Earl Godwin, when he ravaged this coast in 1052, it was rebuilt by William de Albrincis, or de Averenches, who became lord of this place after the Norman Conquest, and it continued to be the chief seat of the barony till it was destroyed, and also the cliff on which it stood, by the encroachments of the sea. King Eadbald, some time after he had built the castle, founded within its precincts a priory for nuns of the Benedictine order, of which his daughter Eanswithe became first one of the sisters, and afterwards abbess. This convent having been destroyed during the Danish ravages, a convent for Benedictine monks was erected on its site, by Nigel de Mundeville, lord of Folkestone, in 1095, who made it a cell to the abbey of Lonley, in Normandy. Not long after, the sea having so far wasted that part of the cliff upon which it stood as to endanger the buildings, the monks removed to a new situation, immediately to the south of the present church. This priory being afterwards made denizen, escaped the general fate of the Alien priories in the reign of Henry V., and existed until the general dissolution, when its revenue was estimated at £63. 0. 7.: the only part of the monastic buildings remaining is a Norman arched door-way; but their foundations may be traced for a considerable distance. Before the reign of Henry I. Folkestone was made a member of the town and port of Dovor, one of the cinque-ports, its freemen being styled the barons of the town of Folkestone. King Edward III. re-incorporated the inhabitants by the title of the mayor, jurats, and commonalty of the town of Folkestone. In the year 1378, the greater part of it was burned by the united forces of the Scots and French; this devastation, added to the continual encroachments made upon it by the sea, reduced it to a very low and inconsiderable state, in which it continued until the last century, when, by the establishment of a fishery, and a lucrative trade with France, it encreased in opulence and importance; and since that time, from the salubrity of the air, the pleasantness of its situation, and the excellence of its beach, it has become a fashionable and well-frequented place for sea-bathing. The town is situated on the shore of the English channel, opposite Boulogne, and in a hollow between two cliffs rising precipitously to the height of ninety feet above the level of the sea, stretching into an extended and very fertile plain, terminated on the east by the beautiful bay of East Ware, and extending on the west for nearly three miles, through small but rich glens, to Romney Marsh, being bounded on the north by a bold ridge of picturesque hills. The houses, irregularly built of brick, stand chiefly on the acclivities of the western cliff, on the summit of which is the church; the streets are narrow and indifferently paved, and the inhabitants are supplied with water by two rivulets, one of which flows through the centre of the town. The environs are pleasant, and the high grounds command an extensive view of the French coast. There are hot and cold baths fitted up with every convenience, and a bathing-machine on the beach: the hamlet of Sandgate is also much frequented as a bathing-place by such as are fond of retirement. Folkestone, as a member of the cinque-port of Dovor enjoys special privileges: the harbour, which was small, and protected by jetties, was formerly kept in repair by voluntary contributions; but these eventually proving insufficient, an act was passed in 1766, imposing a small duty on coal brought to the port, to be applied to that purpose. It was afterwards judged necessary to construct a new and more capacious harbour, but, from the great accumulation of shingle, it is still very incomplete; and a large sum of money would be requisite for the erection of sluices, and other works necessary to render it capable of affording anchorage for a very considerable number of vessels. To this harbour belongs a great number of fishing boats, which in the mackarel season are employed in catching that fish for the London market. When the mackarel season is over, the Folkestone boats frequently go off to the coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk, to catch herrings. There is a small customhouse establishment belonging to the out-port of Dovor, under a supervisor, surveyor, and other officers. At a short distance from the church is a battery of four guns. The market, granted by King John, is on Thursday: the market-house is now being rebuilt, upon a more extended scale: there is a fair on the 28th of June. The corporation consists of a mayor, twelve jurats, and twenty-four common council-men, with a recorder, chamberlain, and town-clerk. The mayor, who is coroner by virtue of his office, is chosen yearly on the 8th of September; and, together with the jurats, who are justices of the peace within the liberty, holds a court of session generally once a year; they have also power to hold a court of record under the charter of the 20th of Charles IL., for the recovery of debts to any amount exceeding 40s., and in which fines of lands are levied. A new and spacious Guildhall, is now being erected, with jury-room and council-chamber adjoining. There is a common gaol and house of correction, of which the Earl of Randor is hereditary gaoler, appointing a deputy. A court of requests is held for the recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £700 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Eanswith, anciently that of the priory, is a cruciform structure of sand-stone, in the early style of English architecture, with a tower in the centre supported by very large piers, from which spring pointed arches: the western division of the building has been contracted in its dimensions, part of it having been blown down in December, 1705. In the south aisle is a curious altar-tomb of variegated marble, with figures of two armed knights. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Wesleyan Methodists. Dr. William Harvey bequeathed £200 for the benefit of the poor of this town, and his nephew and executor, Sir Eliab Harvey, in 1674, in fulfilment of this bequest, founded a school for twenty poor children, and endowed it with part of the income of an estate in the parish of Lympne, from which the master receives a salary of about £36 per annum: the scholars are nominated by the mayor and jurats, who, with several other trustees, have the management of the school. About a mile and a half south of the town, on the summit of a lofty hill, are ancient earthworks, supposed to have been those of the Roman fortress. At Ford, about half a mile from the town in the same direction, is a chalybeate spring. The most celebrated natives appear to have been Dr. Harvey, born in 1578, who discovered the circulation of the blood; and John Phillepott, Somerset Herald, and one of the principal Kentish antiquaries, born about the close of the sixteenth century. Folkestone gives the title of viscount to the family of Bouverie, Earls of Radnor. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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