FOLKESTONE, or Folkstone, a municipal borough, seaport, and market-town of England, county of Kent, is situated on the London and South-Eastern Railway, 7 miles W.S.W. of Dover. It is very irregularly built, part of it lying in a hollow between the chalk and greensand hills, and other portions on the hills. Folkestone is much frequented in summer for sea-bathing, and steam packets ply daily between the town and Boulogne. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries, and there is also a considerable shipping trade. The pier-harbour is 19 acres in extent, and admits vessels of 150 tons burden. In 1861 a low-water landing-pier was erected, which enables passengers to land from the steamers at all states of the tide. The coast is defended by three martello towers, and a battery situated on the heights protects the town. During 1877 the number of vessels that entered the port was 885, with a tonnage of 154,897, and 854 cleared, with a tonnage of 153,208. Of these the number engaged in trade with foreign countries was—entered 46, with a tonnage of 9333; cleared 148, with a tonnage of 22,452. Among the public buildings may be mentioned the free grammarschool, the harbour-house, the town-hall and market-house, and the parish church, a cruciform structure in the early Gothic style, with a tower rising from the intersection. It has recently been enlarged and restored. The original church of St Eanswitha was built in 1095, and attached to it was a monastery for Benedictine monks, but the devastations of the sea compelled the removal of both to the cliff on which the church now stands. The monastery was destroyed at the dissolution of religious houses in 1535. At a very early period Folkestone was a place of some importance, and Roman remains have been found near it. It ...