During a watching brief in 2000, evidence for a large stone mole was revealed. Set on a n-n-w by s-s-e axis running from shore to sea, it was traced for a minimum length of 20m with neither ends being found. The width of the mole is unknown but it was not found in tree-pit 5 which is c. 8-9m west of tree-pit 4 where it was found. The mole had been constructed from large ragstone boulders set on edge. Close to the eastern edge, the surface of the mole was surmounted by a small ragstone parapet wall. The date of construction is not known, but from pottery finds and documentary evidence, it is likely to have been around the turn of the 18th century.

Some time after its construction a small building, the "Watch House", (TR 23 NW 228) was built close to its seaward south end. Subsequently other buildings were built upon the mole. By the mid to later 18th century build up of sand a shingle the shoreline was at least 30m further south. Subsequently during the mid 19th century much of this area was rebuilt and improved and all trace of the mole was buried. (1)

During a watching brief in 2011, during works to install the fountain, the mole was again encountered. Material found within the mole included clay pipes and pottery and dated between c.1675 and 1725. (2)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2001, Folkestone Harbourside Improvement Scheme Report on Watching Brief March-October 2000 (Unpublished document). SKE7981.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2011, An archaeological watching brief at Fountain Square, Beach Street, Folkestone (Unpublished document). SKE17258.