For the first time, a large number of belemnite arm hooks is described from the Lower Cretaceous (Middle–Upper Albian boundary interval) of the classic locality of Folkestone in southern England. The arm hooks originate from six individual claystone layers; some could have been attributed to the parataxon Arites sp. Comparison is made with material from a drill core from Hannover, northern Germany that shows similarities and also allows the description of a new parataxon: Hughowenites incurvatus n. gen. n. sp. The belemnite hooks might belong to either the diplobelids Conoteuthis and Pavloviteuthis, both characterised by a reduced guard and thus very rare finds at Folkestone, or the abundant guard-bearing belemnitinid Neohibolites. Within the studied succession, belemnite hooks are more abundant in sediments deposited during an earliest Late Albian warming event that is accompanied by an increased abundance of guards of the belemnite Neohibolites. Concurrently with this warming event primary productivity was enhanced, as indicated by fluctuations in the composition of the calcareous nannoplankton assemblage. The shift in belemnite abundance might be interpreted as triggered by a combination of warming and increased productivity and/or condensation.