International Women’s Day 2024
For International Women’s Day we’re looking at women in archaeology, with a very particular link with Folkestone. This just happens happens to coincide with the centenary year of the excavation of East Wear Bay’s Roman Villa too! For International Womens Day we wanted highlight the work of Rosalind Winbolt, who among other sites, worked on […]
Samuel Plimsoll’s 200th Birthday
Born today on 10th February 1824… Have you ever worried about being on a sinking ship? Most of us have imagined ourselves aboard a boat the moment it is swallowed by the waves. Before 1876, this was much more of a risk for British sailors than it is now. Without proper safety legislation, so-called “coffin-ships” were […]
5th November, Monthly Talk – The History of the Kent Coalfield
Most friends of the Museum will know our Curator, Darran Cowd. However what many of you may not know is that his actual specialism is industrial and engineering heritage, having worked in several national museums including the RAF Museum and National Coal Mining Museum for England. It was from the latter museum that he was […]
1st October 2022 – A Schoolgirl’s War – A Talk Hosted by Friends of Folkestone Museum
Mary Smith is the former Headteacher of Maidstone Grammar School for Girls and will be giving a talk about ‘A Schoolgirl’s War’. This tells the story of school life during WW2 and features the recently discovered and exquisite artwork of wartime school art teacher Helen Keen, who set out to document in paint and pencil […]
The Mystery of the Bronze Age Sword
Can you help Folkestone Museum solve an archaeological mystery? In 1951 a Bronze Age sword was dredged from the sea, about 36.5 metres (40 yards) from the shoreline off the site of the Roman villa at East Wear Bay. The finder, a local fisherman by the name of Mr H. Brice, was advised that the […]
Reverend David Railton M.C.
Reverend David Railton M.C The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior 17th October 2020 – 24th December2020 100 years ago, on the 11th November 1920 an Unknown Warrior was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. This was to be the legacy of a remarkable man, David Railton. The Friends of St Mary’s and St Eanswythe’s exhibition […]
Story Mat: Threads of Creativity
The story mat was created in partnership with, and the active involvement of, the Nepalese Community (Cheriton Stitch & Chat), Age UK, Folkestone Mind, Friends of Folkestone Museum and local schoolchildren as part of the Folkestone HEART National Lottery Heritage Fund Project. It was designed and sewn by Jenny Langley, a tapestry and needlework specialist, […]