Folkestone Castle stood on a spur of the North Downs to the north of the town of Folkestone, Kent (grid reference TR214380). The Norman castle on a natural mound which existed in the late 11th and 12th centuries. It was excavated in 1878 by Augustus Pitt Rivers and this has been claimed to be the first excavation of a medieval site in Britain using scientific methods. The earthworks now overlook the end of the M20 motorway and the entrance to the Channel Tunnel at Cheriton.