The Leas Lift is a grade II* listed funicular railway that carries passengers between the seafront and the promenade in Folkestone, Kent. Originally installed in 1885, it is one of the oldest water lifts in the UK. Once restored, the Folkestone Leas Lift will be one of only three remaining water-balanced lifts in the country.

As a result of being a rare and remarkable survival of our heritage, Leas Lift was placed on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2019. The Lift has been a sad sight since it closed in 2016 and we have discovered with assistance from Historic England how special and rare the Lift is to our heritage.

“It is one of only eight water balance cliff lifts in the country, of which only three operate using their original system. It retains its original engineering system, including its 1890 reciprocating pumps and the only working band brake in a funicular railway worldwide” Isabelle Ryan, Assistant Inspector, Historic England.

The lift operates using water and gravity and is controlled from a small cabin at the top of the cliff. It has carried more than 36.4 million people since it opened, in a process that is especially energy efficient. The lift has a very small carbon footprint and recycles all of the water used to drive the cars. 

The Lift is at the heart of Folkestone and is much loved by the community. During 2020 an online consultation resulted in 2,548 responses. A recurrent comment was that people can no longer walk up the footpaths connecting the Coastal Park to the top of the Leas due to ill health, disabilities, or transporting small children. It became clear the Folkestone community loves the Lift and needs transportation from the Leas to the beach.

Since November 2023, the Folkestone Leas Lift Company Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) has embarked on a £6.7 million transformational project to repair and conserve the Leas Lift, bringing it back into public use and launching a vibrant and varied programme of activities to educate, inspire, engage and serve the local community, and provide step-free access from the seafront to the town.

Our project, Restoring Folkestone’s Gem for the Community, will see:

• the restoration of the lift cars, waiting rooms, pump rooms, tanks, track, wheel houses and upper station tunnel and railways, enabling the lift to re-open to the public once the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive have been met;
• all risks to the fabric of the lift addressed and the lift removed from the Heritage at Risk Register;
• interpretation throughout the site to educate people on the history of the lift and its importance both nationally and locally;
• the creation of 16 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) permanent jobs, work experience and placement opportunities for young people at school, college and university to enhance their employability;
• securing the future of the lift, to be run as a viable business attracting 229,000 visitors each year, generating sufficient income for it to be maintained to a high standard;
• heritage engagement activities with marginalised groups, breaking down economic, physical and attitudinal barriers;
• a wider range of people engaged with the heritage, including residents with sensory or cognitive impairments, people who are socially isolated, living in care homes or supported housing;
• upper and lower lift stations made fully accessible, creating a warm and welcoming visitor space with waiting rooms, a café, information desk, ticketing, outdoor seating and WCs;
• improved access between low and high town for people with mobility restrictions;
• he minimisation of the carbon footprint by bringing the lift back into use (reducing car journeys), and installing an air source heat pump, insulation, secondary glazing, Photovoltaic panels, and LED lighting.
• an extension to the site to provide space for a café and events space.

A Community Interest Company [CIC] was set up in 2018, registered at Companies House under company number 11145968. A CIC is a particular type of limited company which pays corporation tax and the one we set up existed to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.

The CIC was closed when we converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation [CIO], in January 2022. This is a charity registered with The Charities Commission No.1197324 and meant we were eligible to apply for funding to more Trusts and Foundations. Setting up a CIO requires meeting the requirements of the Charity Commission. We believe this charitable structure will best serve the interests of the Leas Lift and as a result the wider Folkestone community.

Within our articles it states that “Our intention is to restore and then maintain and operate the Leas Lift for the benefit of the local community and visitors to preserve this historic water powered cliffside funicular railway and to introduce the history of the lift to the public.”