Victorian funicular will be restored to former glory thanks to £4.8m Lottery grant

A Victorian funicular is to be restored to its former glory.

Folkstone’s Leas Lift will reopen in 2025 after a £4.8 million donation from the National Lottery Heritage Fund helped campaigners to reach their fundraising target of £6.6 million.

The Grade II listed structure connected visitors from the top of the Leas cliff to the beach 131 feet below, but closed in 2016 because of health and safety issues.

James Walker-Osborn, from the Leas Lift charity, said a housing shelter for elderly people living close to the cliff top made the first donation to restore the lift so its residents could visit the beach.

“Folkestone has a massive population of elderly people, and the first donation we received for the funicular was actually from a housing shelter for elderly people called Garden House Court,” he told The Telegraph.

“They told us at a community meeting that because of where the house is situated – about 40 metres down to the seafront – the people living there could no longer access it.”

Historic England put the structure on its Heritage Risk register two years after it closed in 2018, and a local campaign launched in the same year to save it from ruin.

More than 36.4 million people are thought to have used the Leas lift over the 130 years it was operational, and it was only known to have shut down a handful of times during the Second World War for repairs. Overall, the group raised £1.8 million through local efforts. The National Lottery donation will now allow construction to start next year.

The funicular, which dates back to 1885, was one of eight water-balanced lifts built in the UK and is one of only three remaining today. It operated by having the two carriages connected by a cable and pulley system, using water to counterbalance the weight of the cars. The heavier car descended and emptied its water when it reached the bottom of the cliff while the lighter car ascended to the top.

As part of the renovation plans an adjoining cafe will be built and the waiting room and ticket office restored, with a glass window to let people see the pump room and its machinery. The site will become an event and community hub for locals.

Eilish McGuinness, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support the restoration of this rare surviving water lift, returning this beautiful and remarkable example of Victorian engineering to its original use connecting seafront and town.”