Folkestone Harbour

51°04′46″N 1°11′23″E / 51.079475°N 1.189632°E / 51.079475; 1.189632 Folkestone Harbour is the main harbour of the town of Folkestone in Kent, England.

The harbour was developed during the 19th century, and became prominent after the South Eastern Railway (SER) began running boat trains to France. It was an important embarkation point for soldiers during both World Wars, and continued to be a popular traffic route for holidaymakers and goods traffic.

The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994, along with a reduction in the local fishing industry, caused the harbour to decline in importance. In the 21st century, it has been redeveloped into a centre for leisure and tourism.

In 1541, King Henry VIII of England was about to wage a war against the French. A plan was made to use Folkestone as a port of embarkation to supplies and troops. He sent a Master Tuk and Master Captain of Sandgate to look for a site for the new harbour. Plans were made but never implemented. On 2 May 1542, the king came to Folkestone but then headed to Dover on 6 May. The Folkestone Harbour plan was abandoned.

In 1703, a heavy storm swept away one of the fishing boats on the shingle beach and damaged many other boats. Also several houses had their foundations undermined as the beach was carried away. An engineer from Romney Marsh advised the local fisherman that the construction of three timber/stone jetties would protect the cliff (below the parish church). The work cost the fishermen £600. But in a storm in 1724, the three jetties were demolished and damage costing up to £1,100 was done.

In 1790, Edward Hasted noted, 8-10 'luggerboats' (used for herring and mackerel fishing), plus 30 smaller fishing boats (catching plaice, sole, whiting, skate, and others) employed up to 200-300 men and boys. This fish was then taken up to the London markets.

It remained a small fishing community with a seafront that was continually battered by storms and the encroaching shingle made it hard to land boats. And the loss of life, boats and damage to fisherman's housing was a constant threat.

In 1804, the Earl of Radnor had petitioned Parliament for the construction of a stone harbour. In 1807, an act of Parliament, the Folkestone Pier and Harbour Act 1807 (47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. ii), was passed to build a pier and harbour, which was built by Thomas Telford in 1809. In 1810, the new harbour of local sandstone was complete. By 1820, a harbour area of 14 acres (5.7 hectares) had been enclosed. Folkestone's trade and population grew slightly but development was still hampered by sand and silt from the Pent Stream. 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 (SER), which was then building the London to Dover railway line, and from June 1843 was the base for a ferry service to Boulogne, after a successful trial by the steam packet Water Witch. George Turnbull was responsible in 1844 for building the Horn pier. Dredging the harbour, and the construction of a rail route down to it, began almost immediately, and the town soon became the SER's principal packet station for the Continental traffic to Boulogne.