Protection of Heritage

To encourage tourism a destination has to have "reasons to visit". Folkestone Harbour is one of those reasons. The association do not own the various heritage structures so can only represent the case for protection of a WWI group of structures that symbolise the last place in Britain so many troops saw as they went to Flandres and the Somme. Descendents of those troops come to Folkestone to retrace their ancestor's footsteps and are shocked to see as to see the harbour is in such a poor condition and ask why it hasn't been restored in their memory.

The interest in family history and producing family trees is a major occupation and websites such as Ancestry allow amateur genealogists to trace their ancestors more easily. Folkestone Hbr was one of the places of national importance and would attract the now large market to the benefit the town.

A number of the structures are true heritage produced by designers who, at the time, were already significant or soon would be. We have asked English Heritage to investigate 16 structures to see if they qualify for protection. The old map on the right shows structures existing during WWI and which are still present.

The applications are for: -

• The viaduct which was constructed in 1843 to the design of Lewis Cubitt who soon after designed Kings Cross station in London. He also included the
  jetties and South Quay brickwork within the overall plan from 1849 allowed passengers to take a short walk between trains and nearby ferries. The viaduct together with the Kentish Ragstone harbour walls forms a group of structures that tell the story of the world's first railway constructed with the primary business objective of international traffic rather than domestic.

• Further up the branch line is Radnor Road Bridge which was designed by Sydney Smirke, Lord Radnor's architect who later went on to design the Circular Reading Room at the British Museum.

• The next important group consists of the 1904 section of the harbour station together with the Harbour Master's House, signal box and remaining section of the Custom House designed by James Murray of Portman St, London. The latter section is often referred to as the Bullion Room (associated with the Great Gold Robbery), in fact, it was built four years later. We have not asked for the 1938 and 1960 platform extensions to be included as they were not present during WWI and would not represent the harbour area as it was.

• The final group of structures are associated with the Outer Pier and pier railway platforms. As can be seen on the map the pier platforms were not connected with the domestic station but allowed boat trains to connect with ferries requiring a deeper draft. The metal platform canopies are unique and the west side landing stages are features that are rare and together they allowed five ships to be berthed at the harbour.

We have properly researched the structures for which protection is being sought and have provided documented evidence to support our argument. It is, however, English Heritage who will make any recommendations to the Secretary of State who will make the final decisions.

Copyright 2011 The Remembrance Line and Frizbee Terms Of Use Privacy Statement