FolkestoneBuildings

St Andrews Convalescent Home 1912

St Andrews Flats 2003

Above, you can see two of this building's incarnations, and on the left is a third. This photograph was taken in 1958, and it was listed as the WTA Guesthouse.

However, I have another photo exactly the same as this which is entitled St. Andrews Guesthouse.

The St. Andrews building is located up on the Durlocks. In the background of the modern picture above, can be seen the ancient St. Peter's church which is still being used today.

This card shows the interior of St. Mary's ward, in the St. Andrews Nursing home. It was dated 1918, and the cat with a great head for heights belonged to the nursing home, and was named Wiggie.

So they must have recognised even in those days that putting pets with the sick and elderly does them a world of good!

Here we have another building still in use today. It is All Souls Church, which was built in 1894 and is located in Cheriton High Street. On the right is All Souls today, and the interior as it is now.

On the opposite corner in the photo on the left can be seen The National Provincial Bank.

Unlike this church on the left, which is no longer there.

It was St. Michael's Church, located on the spot where the houses belonging to the Sherwood Trust now stand, on St. Michael's Street at Dover Road.

I remember the church on the left very well.

This building with the lovely tall spire is now long gone. It belonged to the Wesleyan Methodist Church on Grace Hill.

This space now houses a block of flats, which certainly doesn't have the character that this building had. Such a shame!

This is a building I am very familiar with, because when it looked the way it did on the left, I was living above it! It is of course The Ensign Cafe, 42 Tontine Street, which my mother owned in the early 50's. Nowadays you can hardly recognise it as the same place, as the front has been completely altered, the recessed centre door has disappeared, and in 2005, it was an Egyptian Art shop called Equilibrium. However, they are now gone, and last I heard it was Ebony Twist, or possibly Chimera Gallery Ltd.

Another building I am all too familiar with. It was Harcourt School for Girls on the left, and Pent Valley School on the right! Yes, one and the same school, located at the bottom of Ashley Avenue.

I took the photo on the right in 2002. I didn't go inside, so maybe it is better there than it was when I attended in the late 50's, but the outside is a great disappointment. No more beautifully manicured green lawns, just concrete everywhere.

When I showed this picture to my daughter, she said it reminded her of a prison - hmmmm out of the mouths of babes eh?

This picture was taken prior to 1923, when they went out of business, and is of Cheriton Electric Hall at Cheriton High Street & Sydney Road.

What was an Electric Hall you might ask? Well, I did, and was told it was a 400 seat cinema which was very popular with the soldiers from Shorncliffe Camp during the first world war.

During the first world war, it was common practice to use large homes as hospitals. This one was Beachborough House, owned by Sir Arthur Markham, M.P. and was being used as the Queen's Canadian Military Hospital. (Yet another connection with my other country!)

I don't know what the occasion was, but there were not only doctors and nurses in this photo, but patients in various stages of infirmity too.

Here is a lovely old building that is there today, and hasn't changed much at all except the wall around the roof has lost its finials. The buildings on either side have changed though, but suspect the one on the right is the original building, with changes to the window decoration. On the other hand, the one on the left is totally different isn't it? As are the light standards in front.

The biggest change to the Town Hall though is the fact that it was occupied by Waterstone's Book Shop when this picture was taken by Stan Cascino. Now it houses the Silver Screen Cinema and the Folkestone Museum.

In the left photo, you can also see the Queen's Hotel on the opposite corner, with its own carriage waiting outside.

This is the oldest church in Folkestone, and possibly the oldest in Kent. It also has to be the one which goes under the most names! I have seen it referred to as The Parish Church, St. Mary's Church, St. Eanswythe Church, St. Mary & St. Eanswythe, and this card called it St. Mary's Parish Church. Anyway, whatever you want to call it, here is the story behind it:

Saxon Princess Eanswythe's father King Eadbald of Kent first built a chapel for her in 630 AD. It underwent many transformations as a monestery, a priory etc. suffered dissolution by Henry V111, rebuilt as a church, and destroyed by fire in 1216. Rebuilt again, and evolved into what you see here.

Several legends are told about St Eanswythe. Her story is that she chose not to marry and refused a Northumbrian prince as suitor when his pagan prayers failed a test she put to him and could not lengthen a beam required for the building of the church. Her own Christian prayers succeeded Other legends include providing water for her convent by making it flow uphill from the stream a mile away, restoring the sight of the blind, forbidding the birds to eat the nun's corn.

A different view of the same church. This time showing the lich-gate.

Here is an interesting one showing the cliff lifts and the Folkestone Baths. The sign over the entrance on the right of the picture reads:

"Cardow's Cadets".

Now this is what Alan Taylor said when I asked him about that:

"Cardow's Cadets performed a variety act of song and comedy led by Charlie Cardow in a building next to the Bathing Establishment called the 'Red Roof Chalet', which was built about 1905, and Cardow's Cadets performed there until the late 1920's."

This 1905 photograph of the Y.W.C.A. Institute had me puzzled, as I had no idea where it had been located. But as always, Alan came to my rescue. Here is what he said about this"

"This building was Richmond House in Oxford Terrace (behind the Odeon Cinema). In your time Christine, it was possibly the 'Oxford Steak House', now demolished."

This is a 1907 photograph of Alexandra House, which was the house furnishers shop run by Adolphus Davis, located on the corner of Sandgate Road and Alexandra Gardens.

See advertisement right.

I feel sure that this advertisement belonged to the same family didn't it?

Some of the oldest buildings in Folkestone have to be the Martello Towers, three of which are seen here up on the East Cliff. The building started on these in 1805, with Tower No. 1, which is in this picture. It ended with Tower No. 74 which is in Seaford.

Here is an advertisement for Glenlee at 33 Cheriton Gdns.

I would guess it was some kind of nursing home, as there are nurses in uniform in the background.

(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture)

Look at this! Bobby & Co. in Sandgate Road when it was brand spanking new in 1934! Those were also the days when cars were allowed all the way up and down Sandgate road.

And just look at those cars, aren't they wonderful? I bet you had to stand at the front and crank a handle to start them!

This is a 1914 photograph of St. Mary's Convent in Shorncliffe Road.

I wasn't sure if it was still there, and this is what Alan Taylor told me:

"St. Mary's Convent combined with the neighbouring Dover College Junior School at Westbrook House in 1998 and became jointly known as St. Mary's Westbrook."

So now we know!

This is Clewer House in West Folkestone. I wasn't sure about this one, but as always, several of my readers came up trumps. Craig-Stuart Waggett wrote to say that Clewer House is presently owned by the Folkestone School for Girls (formerly the Folkestone County School for girls), and the road running alongside is Coolinge Lane.

He says that as far as he knows, it used to be used for boarders, but is now being used for administration and reception for the main school.

I tried contacting the school to have this verified, but their e-mail address on their website bounces back. However, this was also confirmed by Theresa Drennan, Leslie Whybrow and many others, so thanks very much all of you, your word is good enough! :-)

I still wonder though if originally its name had anything to do with the Sisters of the Community of St. John the Baptist, Clewer, who used to run the St. Andrews Nursing Home?

This building is still going strong. It is the Royal Victoria Hospital, and this one was taken in 1910.

It used to be a general hospital, but I think it now specializes in geriatric cases, but I stand to be corrected on that one.

I spent a few laborious hours in there in 1968! It was where I gave birth to my son Graham - quite a few years after this photo was taken!

I am on a mission to find out where the statue went to that you can see in this picture, it was removed to make way for the car park. Does anyone know where it is?

Here we have a photograph of Kent College, which was sent to me by Ross.

A lovely old building isn't it? Thanks Ross!

Hands up who remembers this building?

It was of course The Pleasure Gardens Theatre, and this photograph was taken in 1907.

The Pleasure Gardens had a pretty long life. Built in 1886 in Bouverie Road, it was in business until it was demolished in 1964.

I don't know why it didn't happen, but I have to admit I didn't step inside the doors while I had the chance, and really wish now that I had.

And this is how the primary school I attended looked in 2002. Not bad considering it was 106 years old is it?

When I popped in to see them at George Spurgen, in Sidney Street, I was treated very well. They took the time to show me around, explained to me why some of us insist on spelling it Spurgeon, and even gave me one of their centenary mugs from their 100th birthday. Thank you SO much, I will treasure it.

This is 1 & 2 Priory Gardens, which is on the Leas from Church Street to Albion villas.

I wasn't sure if this should go into the Hotel category as they had made a postcard of it, and maybe it was one when this photo was taken, but I do know that later on, and possibly now, it was flats.

This was called Merton House Pension, Castle Hill Avenue on the card. My understanding of a Pension is that it was a little more than a B & B, as it served an evening meal too, but the dining room was not open to the non staying public, unlike most hotels.

I recently saw an old photo of the Wampach Hotel, and the sign on it said 'The Wampach Hotel Pension'. So does that mean they only had full catering service for residents only too?

This was listed as the Anglo Continental School, Folkestone.

I knew nothing about this school until I heard from the people below.

You will see more of this building in The Leas section, but as it is one of the most photographed buildings in Folkestone, it deserves to be in here too. It is of course the Leas Cliff Hall, taken I think shortly after it was built.

Quite a feat of engineering that it has been there as long as it has without tumbling down the cliff!

It was built to replace the Leas Shelter.

Downs School Classroom

Downs School Snr. Girls Bedroom

Downs School Dining Room

Downs School Back of House

And where was the Downs School? Well you might ask, because I have no idea!

This was how the Holy Trinity Church, Sandgate Road looked in 1890, and you can see the interior on the right

This again is the interior of St. Mary's.

This is the church I was married in the first time around. It is St. Martin's Church, Horn Street.

This slightly fuzzy one shows the way the Leas Cliff Hall used to look on the inside.

Remember this building? I do! It was the Playhouse Theatre in Guildhall Street. I especially remember the back row! (ahem!!)

The building next door was called London House, but the shop below looks to be boarded up. I think that was a pub on the far corner, but I don't know what it was called. But Alan Taylor does, it was the Shakespeare which was demolished in 1972.

The next few recent photos of Folkestone buildings were taken by Cliff Sherwood, who lives in Folkestone

This is a building I know very well. it used to be the Baptist Church on Rendezvous Street, but is now an elegant restaurant called Wetherspoons.

The reason I know the building well is because I attended for quite a few years. Not that we were baptists, but my mum (who was an agnostic) told us she didn't care which denomination of church we attended, just as long as we attended. She felt strongly that she shouldn't influence us, and that we should be exposed to many religions, and then make up our own minds. So we had a ball, and attended most of them, including the Methodists and the Salvation Army! But I stuck with the Baptists the longest because I belonged to the Girls Life Brigade there.

This pub is pretty old, it is the British Lion on The Bayle. They do a very nice meal here

And another old pub, this time we have The Ship Inn, on the Stade by the harbour.

Ahem! Anyone notice a pattern developing here? Methinks our Cliff was on a pub crawl with his camera tucked under his arm! This time we are at The Lifeboat Inn on The Durlocks.

Even his favourite restaurant has a pub type name! This is La Tavernetta in Clifton Gardens. Gone now I believe.

A bit more food to soak up the liquor! This time it is Giovanni's in Bouverie Rd West. (I think they are gone too, so hard to keep up with business turnover in Folkestone!)

I don't know much about this one except it was entitled St. Nicholas tennis ground.

These women all seemed to be dressed alike, I wonder if they were nuns? I can't somehow picture nuns playing tennis in their habits though! Maybe St. Nicholas was a private school for young ladies.

This aerial view of the beach and Marine Crescent shows the Sea Water Swimming baths, where you could even rent a swimming costume if you didn't have one. No dryers in those days, all the towels are out on the line.

I don't know the date of this, but it was entitled 'Virgo Fidelis Convent St. Mary's, Folkestone. The chapel.

This is McDonalds in the town centre. McDonalds? But where are the golden arches?

"MR. KETTLE AND MRS. MOON"

By J.B. Priestley

A picture of an 8 page programme for this try-out production prior to the West-End Premiere at the Duchess Theatre the following week. Dated August 22nd there were 6 performances only

With Clive Morton, Raymond Francis, Frances Rowe, Julian Somers and Wendy Craig (was that the same Wendy Craig who went on to star in 'Butterflies'?

(Notice the ad at the bottom for Martin Walters? I worked there for a while)

This is Club Indigo on Marine Parade. I am sure it is a very nice club, but the building leaves a lot to be desired doesn't it? Notice the cameras up on the post? They are obviously expecting trouble! Demolished now to make way for housing.

The Folkestone sports center (right) was opened in 1969 by Princess Anne, (the year after I left). Anyway it's now 34 years old and it needs major investment, this they say will happen in the next few years. Regardless, its still a great place to go. facilities include a large heated swimming pool, 9 hole pitch and putt golf, dry ski slope, 4 squash courts, 6 tennis courts and a very large main sports hall. There is also a very nice pub with live music on Fri and Sat nights

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The Bathing Establishment was built in 1868 and demolished 98 years later in 1966.

On my old Folkestone website, I had first mentioned this convalescent home as someone had written asking about a Catholic Nursing Home. So I assumed when I discovered it had been run by the Sisters of Clewer that they were Catholic nuns. However, I received the following portion of an e-mail from Father Timothy L'Estrange:

This home WAS run by the Sisters of the Community of St.John the Baptist, Clewer, but they are NOT Roman Catholic nuns, they are Anglican (Church of England) nuns. The home worked with St.Peter's Church next door.

The CSJB sisters left both Folkestone and Clewer many years ago. For a long time they were based at a new convent in Windsor, but in 2001 they relocated again to Kidlington near Oxford. They are Augustianian nuns, and their Order was founded in 1849.

This was Montague House private school for girls on Westbourne Gardens in the early 20's. For 20 guineas per term, you got all the basic tuition, room and board. For an extra fee, you could also have your child enrolled for piano or violin lessons, solo singing, drawing & painting, riding, swimming, fencing, elocution, latin, dancing, drilling & gymnastics, and you could also reserve your child a seat in church! Take a look at some more photos of the school:

Classroom

Drawing Room

A Bedroom

Dining Hall

Croquet

Hockey

Riding

It also looks to me as if those poor little rich girls were having to learn to ride their horses side saddle!

Home

Here is the same spot in 2005, and you can see the flats where the church used to be, with the library behind.

Before we get too far away from the St. Andrews Nursing home photos, here are a couple I took in 2005. This one shows the flats, the woman you can see was sweeping up some broken glass thrown by vandals overnight.

I took this one at the same time. It hasn't changed a lot over the years, and is still attached to the St. Andrews building. I think it is still used as a church or chapel, but I didn't think to ask.

St Eanswythe's again in 2005, and they have added what I considered to be a very tacky looking sign which looks very much out of place. It reads:

'Our Church, Our Lord JESUS CHRIST Worship Him Here'.

I do hope it doesn't go round and round and flash at night!

And here they are! Cardow's Cadets themselves!

I went searching for, and found Clewer House in 2005. It is a very busy place with people coming and going constantly.

You can see how it looks in 2005, the original building is still there, but has been added to considerably. One thing they didn't have to concern themselves with when the photo on the left was taken, and that was where to park all the cars!

There are a lot of buildings to cover in Folkestone, so many over the years, that we have had to continue onto another page. If you would like to look at some more, both old and new, click HERE FOR PAGE 2

This was Grove House Academy. This picture was given to me by Folkestone Historian Alan Taylor. Thanks Alan!

This is Pembroke Court, Dover Road, taken in 2005. Am I right in thinking these flats are on the site of where the Grove House Academy used to be?

A very old photo of Medomsley Hall in Folkestone, but I have no idea where it was located. Anyone else?

Now this is interesting. It is a 1909 notice of auction taking place at the Queen's Hotel on Sandgate Road, where the Eagle Tavern, 52 High Street was going under the block.

Those premises hardly look big enough to house a pub, but as there were lots of pubs in Folkestone at that time, they probably didn't have to be very large. In my 1958 Kelly's Directory, it was C & T Cafe, owned by C & T Rossi.

I haven't managed to get my hands on a photo of the C & T Cafe, however I have managed a couple of photos of the location, these are owned by the family of Mary Anne Lowrey, Granddaughter of Biagio and Ascenza Rossi who owned both 52 High Street and 54 Tontine Street. His restaurant/Ice cream parlour underwent various name changes but were always in the same two locations. Two of his daughters, Carmela and Teresa helped in the restaurants, as did many of their children. After the couple died in 1951 and 1957 respectively, Carmela and Teresa took over the High Street location and ran it under the name of C & T Cafe.

Businesses change hands very quickly in Folkestone, but last time I looked, 52 High Street - or Old High Street as it is now called, was occupied by Iris & Isaac's hair salon.

The Kings Arms Hotel which stood on the corner of Sandgate Road and Guildhall Street. It was demolished in 1882 to make way for a wider road, and the Queen's Hotel.

The sign on the building next door says M.P. Valyer, which was a livery stables that went into liquidation in 1872.

In contrast, this photo was taken in 2005 and is of the Royal George public house, 18 Beach Street, near the harbour. I don't think this is the original Royal George, something tells me it has been completely rebuilt in the last few years.

Can you guess which building is coming next?

The programme on the left dates from 1960

This badge brought back the memory that I promised to abstain from intoxicating drink. Oops!!

Tower No. 3 in the distance was an interpretive centre, not sure if it is being used for anything now, and the other two are residences. You can find a list of all the Martellos along this stretch of coast HERE

Nope - not nuns, according to Alan, it was a private school on the corner of Trinity Gdns & Sandgate Rd. opened 1885/87 and closed in 1924.

I am assuming this is yet another private school, it was called The Grange Dining Room, and dated 1909. Looks more like a workhouse though doesn't it? Does anyone know where or what The Grange was?

Senior House, Athelstan school for girls was located at 48-50 Shorncliffe Rd and was destroyed by a V-1 on 27th July, 1944 along with Feltonfleet Prep School, 46 Shorncliffe Rd. The block of flats called Cliffstone Court is now on this site.

I just received an e-mail from a lady called Irene Saunders, whose family used to live opposite this building on the Durlocks, and she told me that 'W.T.A.' stood for Workers Travellers Association and it was owned by a union for union workers to go to for their holidays..

You saw the St. Michael's Street side of St. Michael's church above, now you can see what the Dover Road side of it looked like. Mike Vernol sent me this one because it used to stand opposite his old school, of which he also sent a picture.

And here it is! Dover Road Secondary School, otherwise known as the Dover Rd Dustbin Raiders when Mike was a pupil there! The photo was taken from the site of the demolished St. Michael's Church around 1955. It later became known as Hillside School, and soon afterwards was relocated in Park Farm. In the photo on the right, it is in the process of being built under the watchful eye of W. A. Parks who was headmaster of Dover Rd /Hillside - Mike says he was probably the best headmaster in Kent, for all aspects of education from the late forties to middle fifties when he retired, whether it was academic or sporting.

Thanks very much for sending these Mike, they are great, and I am sure they will bring back a lot of memories for some 'Old Boys'

This is a photo I took of that same area in 2006. You can no longer see the buildings of Marine Crescent, as there are others in the way, and a car is parked where Swiss Cottage once stood. The area is also now part of a one way system. You cannot go up the Rd of Remembrance from the part of the street I was standing on.

This was another convalescent home called Wear Bay House. Later the Bruce Porter Home, or Dr. Barnardo's Home on Wear Bay Crescent.

Here is a business that couldn't decide if it was French or Italian. Located at 31 Sandgate Road, you could not only book your trips to France, but could also change your money there. They guaranteed you would get full value back for the money you didn't spend too. I am not too clear if they had a second location at 72 (bottom) High Street because that address is also listed on the ad. However, it seems that the Sandgate Road address was directly opposite the Astoria Cinema.

Cliff's photos were taken around 2003 or 4, and were in the now category when I put them up. However, as I type this, it is 2023, so imagine most will be gone altogether by now.

The photo of the Marine Gardens Pavilion on the left was sent to me by Steve Walker, who tells me he used to go roller skating there. So did I Steve!

I took the photo on the right in 2006 of the same building, and look, by then it was the Club Indigo. However, like all the other places we had fun in when we were kids, it's now been demolished for housing.

Can you imagine playing field hockey in those skirts?

This is a 1904 photo of the Royal Victoria Hospital. A beautiful piece of architecture, so as per usual they wanted to demolish it to build housing. People protested, so they compromised by retaining the front facade, but the rest was demolished and turned into flats. This is just my opinion, but I really don't understand the decision makers on the Council. They had a large building here built as a medical facility with enough room for parking for the ill and disabled, and they give planning permission to turn it into flats. They also have another lovely piece of architecture in the centre of town that Debenham's used to occupy. This has no nearby parking, and they want to turn it into a medical centre, which they say would necessitate demolishing the oldest and in my opinion the nicest part of the building. Patients wouldn't be able to be dropped off and picked up at the door, as it is in the middle of a shopping precinct, closed to traffic. I guess I don't know the whole story, because there must be something that makes more sense than I am seeing.

Now this one is interesting. When I bought this card, I was told that it was a photo of a model of the Royal Victoria Hospital as it was planned to be upgraded and enlarged in the future. The model was made by the children of George Spurgen School in the 1930's. That particular development obviously never came about. Can anyone verify the truth behind this story? If true, I think the children did a fabulous job, and would have been perfect for any medical facility in the future too.

The Sanitary Steam Laundry, located in Cheriton. If you check the 'People' section, you will see the workers toiling in this establishment. This photo was taken in the early 1900's

This beautiful old house was the School of English Studies in Grimston Gardens, I wonder if the dog learned to speak English?

If you have your own memories of Folkestone, be sure to share them with us all by jotting them down in the book below

Folkestone Memories

St. Mary's Convent again, this time showing the Annexe

Praetoria House was a day and boarding school with kindergarten, started in 1881 by Dr Alfred Praetorius at 45 Weymouth St, London. In 1883-4 Praetoria House moved to Folkestone at 1-3 Grimstone Gardens.

1903 The school was sold to Mr and Mrs Roderick.

1904 Mr Roderick built new premises in Coolinge Lane, Folkestone and moved the school there. This building was taken over by the Folkestone County School for Girls in 1922 and renamed Penfold House as mentioned further up the page.

1921 Sir Milsom Rees, the King George V’s ENT specialist founded Port Regis at Kingsgate, Broadstairs, incorporating the pupils and staff from Praetoria House in Folkestone following the retirement of the Rodericks.

Port Regis School is still going strong in its 126th year in Motcombe Park, Shaftesbury, Dorset, and is an independent Prep school for boys & girls 3 - 13.

It is believed that this is a photo of Praetoria House in Coolinge Lane, now Penfold House, occupied by the Folkestone School for Girls.

This photo was sent to me by Mike Vernol. It shows one of the classrooms in Praetoria House, and I am told by Frances Nash, headteacher of St. Nicholas Primary School in New Romney, who was at the Folkestone School for Girls from 1976 - 1983, that the room is still there, with slight upgrades. So it is nice to know that we have finally got the building pinned down. Thank you Mike and Frances!

Several people have written to give me the very sad news that John Brickell died on May 30, 2007, and Rowlands Rock Shop has closed. I always predicted that if this shop closed, Folkestone would fall. I am glad to say I was wrong in that prediction, but I think you will agree with me that Folkestone will never be quite the same.

Rowlands confectioners was started by Jim Rowland's father at 2 Harbour Street on the corner of the High Street on 25th March 1924 when Mr R. Rowland took a 14 year lease on the property. The building was severely damaged by a parachute mine on 18th November 1940. After the war he moved to 70 High Street where his son Jim ran the business. He moved to the current shop 17 High Street in 1955. The business was later sold to John's family and he became the owner around 1997.

Joan Brickell recently wrote to me with further information: "John and David Brickell, together with their sister Janet Ewins (nee Brickell) and her husband John Ewins owned The business of Rowlands Rock shop from 1966, in 1976 they all fell out, as families do, and John and David carried on the business without them until 1996 when David left the business, and John continued until just before his death in 2007. John worked in the business all his life making seaside rock starting in the 1950's working for Jimmy Rowland. It was extremely hard work but a lot of fun as well as it catered for the "bucket and spade" holiday makers of Folkestone when the town was "buzzing"

Thank you very much Joan - it's lovely to have the full story.

This photo and information supplied by Alan F. Taylor

These two photos taken by Mike Jones. On the left, John Brickell & son Daniel are rolling and pulling the hot rock. To the right is the display counter inside the shop.

This page updated June 4, 2023

I wasn't sure about this one, but this is what Ian Gordon told me:

It shows the wall of the North Transept of the church of St. Mary & St. Eanswythe, and the Jesse Tree painting - a 'family tree' showing how Jesus was descended from Jesse who was the father of the great Old Testament hero King David. That is why we sing 'Hosanna to the Son of David' on Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus coming into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

The Jesse Tree was painted over sometime either before or just after the war.

All my questions are answered eventually, Hilary Tolputt was kind enough to post the following into the Guestbook:

You ask if Clewer House in Coolinge Lane had any connection with the Sisterhood of St John Baptist, known as the Clewer nuns. Indeed it did! The building originally was Bayham House School. The nuns had established a presence in Folkestone in the nineteenth century particularly with the building of St Andrews Convalescent Home. They had also established a school, St Stephens College at Clewer in Buckinghamshire but they required a larger site in 1919. They acquired the buildings of Pelham House School on the escarpment in Coolinge Lane (now part of the Folkestone School for Girls) and renamed it St Stephens College, and also Bayham House which was renamed "Clewer". The latter was the senior house for the girls. St Stephens and the nuns evacuated to Taplow in the Second World War and the buildings were acquired by KCC. Clewer became the boarding house for the County Grammar School and St Stephens became the Girls Technical School. The lease on Clewer expired in 2010 and reverted to the Radnor Estate.

Built in 1886 in Bouverie Road, Kent College moved to Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent in 1939 and has been successfully educating girls ever since, and is currently a girls Methodist school. This year, in 2011, they celebrated their 125th anniversary at The Grand Hotel in Folkestone.

Paul Seward has been researching this for me, and we have decided it is the building that is now part of the Folkestone School for Girls in Coolinge Lane, and figured that it was once a school in its own right. It was pinpointed to that position by the Martello Tower seen in the left of the photo. More research has turned up that it was Pelham House Preparatory School for Boys prior to the Clewer Nuns buying it in 1919 and renaming it St. Stephen's College. Pelham House moved to Bouverie Road East.

Some light has been shed on this by Sally Batchelor of Folkestone. This is what she says:

"As a student in the early 1980s, "The Grange" was the name given to a very old building of classrooms and offices that used to be on the site of and was part of the South Kent College on Shornecliffe Road. Looking at the "The Grange" depicted in the photographs on here, I would say it is the same place. I'm afraid don't know the previous history of this builiding or of the grounds on which the college now sits This part of the college has since been demolished sadly."

Thank you very much Sally.

The reason I have put this on the buildings page is because I am hoping someone can give me some information on the theatre you can see in the centre of the picture. I have asked, and looked in books, but can find no reference to it whatsoever. It was obviously open on Sundays, because underneath the word 'Theatre', is the word Sunday. This card is dated 1910, but I have no idea how long it was there.

I was thrilled to receive this card from Diane Hagan, who was at Harcourt School at the same time as me. It is dated 1905, and the person who mailed it said "This is where I have been for the 4 months, and two weeks at the Boy's home, and there was an arrow indicating that the Boy's Home was the building you can see on the extreme right. So of course, I had to see if that building is still there and it is! Looks in very good shape too doesn't it? I had no idea that this building was at one time affiliated with the one across the street.

This is a 1915 picture of the chapel of St. Mary's Convent

When I attended George Spurgen, this was the house we were living in. However, this photo was taken in 2005. It is 68 Canterbury Road, just around the corner from Sidney Street. We moved from there shortly after my grandmother was killed by an electric vehicle while crossing the road right in front of the house. She was coming back from shopping at Jesse Sellen's butchers. I thought the vehicle was a milk float, but my older sister assures me it was a bread float. She is probably right, I was only 7 years old at the time.

This chance mention of Jesse Sellen's butcher shop has brought me some interesting e-mails. First of all from Ian Martin, who is a distant relative of Jesse, who in turn put me in touch with Jesse's Great Granddaughter, Linda Nicholson - who lives in France.

Linda has given me some background on the family, and a wonderful photo of Jesse and his wife Emma. You can find all this on the 'People' page.

Alan knew this one! It was a private school for young ladies at 10 Clifton Crescent. On the left of the picture you can just see the Holy Trinity church.

Update: Had an e-mail from Amanda Doyle in Birmingham who has been doing some research, and thinks this was originally the Sutherland House School for boys at that address. The girls school was at No. 6 Clifton Crescent.

Now I am not sure if these two cottages are one and the same. Something tells me they are not, because the chimney's certainly look different, so possibly the one above was someone's residence. Maybe there were several houses down there at one time, because I do know there was a school at the Warren at some point. I don't have a date for the cottage above, but the Inn and tea gardens below is dated 1910. This was probably the forerunner to the Chalet.

This is a cafè that I frequent each and every time I go home. It's Django's on Rendezvous Street. They have a surprisingly sophisticated menu for a small restaurant, and they make the best toasted stilton, apple & bacon sandwich that I have ever had!

My mouth is drooling just talking about it! :-)

I could be wrong, (it has been known!) but I think this building was occupied by John Collier's men's wear when I lived there. (Remember the jingle "John Collier, John Collier, the window to watch" Then on the other side of the alley leading up to the town hall was drapers Lewis & Hyland.

I also found out on my last trip that the public toilet in this alleyway which had been there for years, and smelled like it, is now closed.

Do you know what this is? If you have visited Rowlands, you might know. It is the end from a stick of rock when it is in its stage before pulling. They used to sell these ends quite cheaply, and I got carried away on one of my visits and bought one - only to realise there was no way I could carry it back to Canada. So my nephews in the UK got lucky!

Another one of Wear Bay House, East Cliff in 1913. My notes say 'Moved to Princess Margaret School in 1966

This is St. Clement's Court, which is now on the site of Wear Bay House.

This photo was sent to me by Alan Taylor in answer to a query I had from a relative of Mr. Milton. He told us that Milton & Smith had two shops, this one at 51 Tontine Street next to Stokes, greengrocers, from 1940/47 until 1952/54. The other was No.12 which was opened in 1939 listed as a 'cutlers.' This shop also sold fishing tackle and bait, it was between Histed's newsagents and Robey's tobacconist.

The shop was sold in the 1980's when Mr Milton died but it is still a fishing tackle shop now.

This is a house that stood at the bottom of the Road of Remembrance (formerly called The Slope) for many years. It was called Swiss Cottage, and had the most unusual roof tiles. I don't know the history behind it though, does anyone?

This wonderful photo was kindly donated by Diane Hagan, who tells me she thinks it was possibly Downs School. It looks like a lovely day, and the girls are getting to build their model ships outside in the sunshine.

Another mystery. Entitled 'The Rocks', this photograph was dated 1903. Does anyone recognise this house?

Alan tells me Downs School was located in Radnor Park Avenue, just along from the hospital. Seems they had more private schools for girls than for boys, unless they just took more photos of them.

OK, there has been a lot of confusion, and I have been asking a lot of questions in a lot of places. This is now what I believe:

Folkestone County Grammar School originally started in three rooms of the Masonic Hall, Grace Hill in 1905, moved to Pelham House, Bouverie Road East in 1906. It then moved into the building in Coolinge Lane formerly occupied by Praetoria School for Boys in 1922, which it renamed Penfold House after Sir Stephen Penfold, chairman of the school governors. It was known as the County School for Girls until 1944 when it was changed to the County Grammar School for Girls. They also took over Clewer House, formerly Bayham House for their boarders in 1951.

The Folkestone Technical School for Girls, was located at The Grange, Shorncliffe Road. It then moved into St. Stephen's College in West Folkestone, formerly a boy's school, and also took over Westbourne House for their boarders, and Eversley College, all in Coolinge Lane.

It is my understanding that both schools merged in the 70's, and Clewer house has now sadly been demolished.

One last word on Pelham House Preparatory School for Boys. There has been a lot of confusion over this - and the confusion I fear has mostly been mine. But this is how I now see it. Pelham House Preparatory School for Boys was once located in West Folkestone off Coolinge Lane, and their headteacher was a man named Edmund Stow Thompson, who had a brother by the name of Augustus Clayton Thompson, who was also a teacher, however, I don't know where he taught. This building, seen upper left, was bought by the Clewer Nuns in 1919, and renamed St. Stephen's College. The building is still standing, and is now part of the Folkestone School for Girls.

I am assuming that Pelham House School then moved in 1919 to the building shown upper right (thank you Alan Taylor for this one) at No. 2 Bouverie Road East. Unless of course Pelham House School originally had two locations, because here is where it still gets a little confusing. I have been told that the County School for Girls started in the Masonic Hall, Grace Hill in 1905, then moved to Pelham House, Bouverie Road East in 1906, where they remained until they moved to Praetoria House, Coolinge Lane in 1922, renaming it Penfold House. So did they once share the building on Bouverie Road East with the Pelham House boys? The photo above certainly shows boys outside. This I don't know, but hopefully one day we will find out. Update: According to the 1911 Census, there were no pupils boarding there at that time, the only residents were two female teachers and the Caretaker and his family. This leads me to believe it was now a day school for girls - i.e. The County School, and the boys had moved out.

The building on the right has been demolished, as has the whole of Bouverie Road East.

July 2013 I received another e-mail regarding this school from Sandy Hargrove, and an excerpt reads as follows:

"The reason I am writing you is that I wrote a book about a school that began on the Bayle in Folkestone in 1799. It was known initially as Mrs. Cullen's Establishment; later as the Parade House School. The school was moved to a new building on Guildhall Street in 1853 and its name was changed to the Rockhill House School which you have pictured as the current Fernley Court Building. By 1906, the school was moved once again to #10 Clifton Crescent and re-named the Anglo-Continental School. Two additional buildings on the Crescent were added as well (one of which was probably #6 Clifton Crescent which was later a boys school). In 1913 the school had so increased in numbers of students that the owners looked around for a larger property which they found on the Isle of Wight in the town of Shanklin. So, once again the school was moved and the name changed to Upper Chine in 1914. Finally, in 1994, Upper Chine school merged with Ryde School where it continues today. The school has lasted some 214 years!"

Modern photo of Fernley Court on the corner of Guildhall Street and Victoria Grove, formerly Rockhill House School.

Modern photo of 10 Clifton Crescent, I don't think there is any doubt that this is the same building as the Anglo-Continental school. You can see the Holy Trinity Church here too, hiding behind the trees on the left.

It's now 2023, and E & M Makers in Wood have been at number 42 for quite a while.

The history of Clewer House has now sadly come to an end. I just received the following from Sarah Thorne:

As Chairman of Governors of the Folkestone School for Girls, I can confirm that Clewer House was used mainly as an administration centre until very recently. Unfortunately, when the 100 year lease expired it was returned to the Folkestone Estate belonging to Lord Radnor and has recently been demolished to make way for new houses.

The school continues to flourish as a Grammar School for Girls and is rated as one of the best in the country.

How sad Sarah, but thank you so much for letting those of us far away know. It's the end of an era for a beautiful building, but so glad to hear the school is still thriving.

Thanks for the pics Cliff - they're great!

A couple of photos of 52 High Street (now Old High Street) and I think they are quite far apart in age, judging by the length of the skirts. Not sure what is going on in the first, that vehicle has gone a little too close to the shops it seems, and is about to take out the corner of the Rossi's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour, and in the next one, Carmela is standing in the door of her father's Tea Lounge, and Biagio Rossi's cup that he won for producing the best ice cream in England proudly on display in the window.

Index

I do think 52 High Street was bigger when the Eagle pub and Rossi's had it, maybe it has been made into two units since then.