IPublic · listed 1949Sandgate CastlePhoto: Jamesedits · Public domain
Sandgate Castle · Photo: Jamesedits · Public domainAHistory Grade
History of Folkestone · Historic England
226 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Folkestone’s built-up area, 43 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 7 scheduled monuments. 41% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 11 of its listed buildings and 5 old views of the town. Folkestone grades A for history: #12 of 87 in Kent.
Listed buildings
226
43 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
2
exceptional interest
Grade II*
7
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
7
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
41%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Folkestone in 21 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Church of St MartinGrade I listed
Wells HouseGrade II* listed
Former Martello Public HouseGrade II listed
The GuildhallGrade II listed
Former Baptist ChurchGrade II listed+16See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Folkestone from 1850 to 1900
5 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1850
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1900Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Folkestone’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
11 of 32neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 89% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
226 listed buildings by grade
2 Grade I7 Grade II*217 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade I
The 2 Grade I listed buildings in Folkestone
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
IChurch · listed 1974Church of St Martin, CheritonOn the list as Church of St MartinPhoto: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Grade II*
The 7 Grade II* listed buildings in Folkestone
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 6 are photographed.
II*House · listed 1975Spade HouseOn the list as Wells HousePhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
II*Church · listed 1966Church of St NicholasPhoto: Nick Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1975Church of the Holy TrinityPhoto: D-G-Seamon · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1989The Leas Lift, including waiting rooms, pump room, lower station tanks, track, cars, wheel houses, tank room, upper station tunnel and railingsPhoto: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1949The Parish Church of St Mary and St EanswythePhoto: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 194918 and 20, Church StreetPhoto: Edgepedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Memorials · listed 2010Folkestone War Memorial
Historic streets
High Street has the most listed buildings
Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.
High Street21 listed
Clifton Crescent16 listed
The Bayle10 listed
The Old High Street9 listed
Radnor Cliff6 listed
Church Street4 listed · 1 II*
Albion Villas3 listed
Marine Parade3 listed
Sandgate Hill3 listed
Sandgate Road3 listed
The Crescent3 listed
Of the 226 entries, 94 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of Folkestone’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas162
Churches, chapels & priories21
Public & civic buildings16
Inns, shops & warehouses9
Memorials, crosses & tombs9
Walls, gates & bridges7
Street furniture2
162 entries (72%) are houses, terraces and villas. 21 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 2 Grade I buildings.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
217 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
The first 150 of 217 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Aughrim HouseBalcony HouseBandstandBarn to North of Broadmead ManorBarn to South of Ingles ManorBarton Cottage Holly CottageBelmontBroadmeadBroadmead ManorBrook HouseBurlington HotelCastle HoleChurch CottagesChurch of All SoulsChurch of St PaulChurch of St PeterChurch of St SaviourCliffe CottageCobblestones in Front of Nos 22 and 24Concrete barrack block 1, Burgoyne Barracks, Shorncliffe CampCoolinge Farmhouse Including WallCoolinge HouseCottage to Rear of No 39Dolphin House and Strangway HouseEast Cliff House Sea LadyElectricity Junction Box Outside Nos. 12-14EnbrookEnbrook LodgeEnbrook Manor Enbrook Manor HouseEndcliffe HouseFolkestone Memorial CairnFormer Baptist ChurchFormer Church of England Primary School, including two school housesFormer Fleur De Lis Public HouseFormer Gas ShowroomFormer Martello Public HouseFormer Municipal OfficesFormer Old Harvey Grammar SchoolFrenchesFrogholt HouseGate piers and gates to the Army Ordnance Depot, Risborough Barracks, Shorncliffe CampGatepiers to the White LodgeGrace Chapel (Former Technical Institute)Grafton CottageHillsideHillsideHoneysuckle CottageHotel Ambassador SouthcliffIngles ManorK6 Telephone KioskLamp Bracket and Bollard to North West of Parish ChurchLeas Cliff HallLibrary and MuseumLittlebourne LodgeLloyds BankMagpie CottageMalvina HouseMartello Tower No 2Martello Tower No 6Martello Tower No 7Martello Tower No 8Martello Tower No. 1Masonic HallMemorial to Sir John MooreMemorial to the Crew of the German Warship SMS Grosser KurfürstMonument to Mark Turner About 4 Metres North of North Chapel of Church of St NicholasMyrtle HouseNewton Cottage Rose CottageOld Kent CottagePaving to ChurchyardPebbleshore and Over The TopPeene House and West LodgePenfold House Folkestone School for GirlsPillar BoxPoundPound Farm HousePriory HouseProvidence InnRacquet Court, Burgoyne Barracks, Shorncliffe CampRadnor LodgeRailway ViaductRange of Stone Barns at the FirsRegency CottageRoman Catholic Chapel of the Most Holy Name Sir John Moore BarracksRoman Catholic Church of Our Lady Help of Christians, Including the Presbytery to the South EastRuins of Christ ChurchSandgate LibrarySandgate War MemorialShip InnShorncliffe LodgeSidney Cooper Weston drinking fountainSir John Moore Memorial Hall and Library, Somerset Barracks, Shorncliffe CampSomerville LodgeSt Andrews Hotel and ChapelSt Marks Garrison ChurchSt Paul's Vicarage Vicarage CottageStatue in the Grounds of the BatteryStatue of Sir John Moore to South of Army Library in Shorncliffe BarracksStatue of William Harvey on PlinthStone Cross in Churchyard of the Parish Church of St Mary and St EanswytheSundial in Churchyard of the Parish Church of St Mary and St EanswytheThe Barley MowThe BatteryThe British Lion InnThe Coaching HouseThe FirsThe Grand Hotel Including Surrounding WallThe GuildhallThe GuildhallThe HermitageThe Leas ClubThe Life Boat InnThe Manor HouseThe New Metropole Including the Fountain in the Garden to the North and Surrounding WallThe Old VicarageUnderhill CottageUnited Reformed ChurchVine CottageWall and Gatepiers to the Manor HouseWar Memorial to the Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry)West Lawn CottageWest Wedge, West House, West Lawn, Spanish House and the WedgeYork Cottage1 and 2, Albion Villas1 and 3 High Street, including studio range to the rear of number 31 and 3, Clifton Crescent1-14, Marine Crescent10, Clifton Crescent10, Radnor Cliff10-15, Marine Parade106, Dover Road11 and 12B, Clifton Crescent118, High Street119, 119A and 121, High Street12 and 14, Clifton Crescent12, Cheriton Place12, The Bayle12-16, Church Street122, High Street123, High Street125, High Street132, 134, Former Williams and Glyns Bank No 134A, Sandgate Road,134, High Street136, High Street14 and 16, The Bayle14, Radnor Cliff149, Sandgate Road15 and 17, Clifton Crescent151, Sandgate Road16 and 18, Clifton Crescent
Conservation areas
5 conservation areas cover 9.3% of Folkestone
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Folkestone 197271 ha
Sandgate High Street 197237 ha
Newington 19745 ha
Sandgate The Esplanade 19723 ha
Frogholt 19902 ha
119 hain conservation areas, of 1,285 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Folkestone, Sandgate High Street and Sandgate The Esplanade, were designated in 1972; the newest, Frogholt, in 1990. 184 of the 226 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
More than half of Folkestone’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1975
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1975 · 161
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 12 entries were listed in 1949, 1 of the 2 Grade I buildings among them. 161 came in 1975, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 10 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
7 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
History Grade
Folkestone grades A for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (251 points, 48 per 10,000 residents)More than 74% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (41%)More than 94% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Homes by age
41% of Folkestone’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
33%
Before 1900
7.8%
1900–18
5.9%
1919–29
9.3%
1930s
4.5%
1945–54
4.6%
1955–64
10%
1965–72
5.1%
1973–82
7.3%
1983–92
2%
1993–99
2.5%
2000–08
2.2%
2009–15
5.6%
2016–25
FolkestoneEngland & Wales
33% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1965–72, which added 10% of today’s homes.
Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (78 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
23 notable people born in Folkestone before 1900
The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.
William Harvey
Edward Hamersley
Francis Houssemayne du Boulay
Walter Walsh
William Hall-Jones
John Grieve
Richard Thornton
Albert Thornton
Charles Daniel-Tyssen
William John Greenstreet
Charles Bousfield Huleatt
Arthur Alston
Mabel Love
Percy Benzie Abery
Kitty Gordon
Ernest Ewart Unwin
Arthur Gibbon
Walter Tull
Robert William Wood
Angela Pery
155016001650170017501800185019001950
William Harvey1578–1657 · English physician (1578-1657)
William Hall-Jones1851–1936 · New Zealand politician (1851-1936)
Kitty Gordon1878–1974 · British actress (1878–1974)
Walter Tull1888–1918 · English professional footballer and army officer (1888-1918)
Richard Thornton1853–1928 · British cricketer (1853-1928)
Albert Thornton1856–1931 · English cricketer (1856-1931)
Mabel Love1874–1953 · British dancer and actress (1874-1953)
PA
Percy Benzie Abery1876–1948 · British photographer (1876–1948)
Everyone born in Folkestone → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Folkestone has the 44th most Grade I buildings of 217 towns its size
Places of 31,000–83,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Folkestone2
#37 of 217for listed buildings per resident (43 per 10,000). Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury and Chichester lead.
43 have more. The typical town its size has 1.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Folkestone
In brief
Folkestone in brief
Old houses are part of Folkestone’s character: 41% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 226 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I, including Sandgate Castle. Only 43 of the 217 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. High Street alone has 21 listed buildings.
Its older streets lie in 5 conservation areas, the first designated in 1972. Of the whole list, 72% are houses, terraces and villas. William Harvey (1578), William Hall-Jones (1851) and Kitty Gordon (1878) are among the 23 people born here before 1900. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.
Questions about Folkestone’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Folkestone?
Historic England lists 226 buildings inside Folkestone’s built-up area: 2 Grade I, 7 Grade II* and 217 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Folkestone?
2, including Church of St Martin and Sandgate Castle.
Which street in Folkestone has the most listed buildings?
High Street (21), Clifton Crescent (16) and The Bayle (10) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
Are there scheduled monuments in Folkestone?
Yes, 7 scheduled monuments, including Martello tower no 4, Cliff Road, Folkestone, Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls, Martello tower no 6, Sandgate, Folkestone and Martello tower no 7, Sandgate, Folkestone.
How many conservation areas are there in Folkestone?
5, covering about 119 hectares of the town. The largest are Folkestone and Sandgate High Street.
When were Folkestone’s buildings listed?
The first in 1949; the most, 161, in 1975.
Are there old photos of Folkestone?
Yes: 5 public-domain photos and postcards from 1850 to 1900, all on this page.
Who was born in Folkestone?
Among people born before 1900: William Harvey (1578), William Hall-Jones (1851), Kitty Gordon (1878), Walter Tull (1888) and Richard Thornton (1853).
How old are the homes in Folkestone?
41% of homes were built before 1919 and 56% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.