Harbour view from East Cliff
The Pavilion Hotel was built in 1843, and was extensively refurbished and extended in 1899 and renamed the Royal Pavilion Hotel. It was one of the most exclusive hotels of the period, and the town’s oldest large hotel was the first to be lit by electricity
The Royal Pavilion was one of Folkestone’s top hotels with an impressive guest list of the rich and famous including Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and other members of the Royal Family. Other well-known visitors to the Hotel were Charles Dickens, Thackeray, the Punch cartoonist John Leach, Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, the King of Sardinia, members of the Rothschild family and Sir Joseph Paxton.
The hotel is said to have gained its "Royal" prefix following an 1855 visit by Queen Victoria to inspect troops at Shorncliffe.
The hotel was closed after the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 early in WW2. Later it was occupied by the Royal Navy and following that the army used it for troops on leave. Its last role during hostilities was as a married families hostel.
This old photo, subsequently coloured, must have been taken some time after 1899.
Harbour view from East Cliff
The Pavilion Hotel was built in 1843, and was extensively refurbished and extended in 1899 and renamed the Royal Pavilion Hotel. It was one of the most exclusive hotels of the period, and the town’s oldest large hotel was the first to be lit by electricity
The Royal Pavilion was one of Folkestone’s top hotels with an impressive guest list of the rich and famous including Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and other members of the Royal Family. Other well-known visitors to the Hotel were Charles Dickens, Thackeray, the Punch cartoonist John Leach, Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, the King of Sardinia, members of the Rothschild family and Sir Joseph Paxton.
The hotel is said to have gained its "Royal" prefix following an 1855 visit by Queen Victoria to inspect troops at Shorncliffe.
The hotel was closed after the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 early in WW2. Later it was occupied by the Royal Navy and following that the army used it for troops on leave. Its last role during hostilities was as a married families hostel.
This old photo, subsequently coloured, must have been taken some time after 1899.