A 400-year-old English forest could be sacrificed for stone used in Britain's historic landmarks

A woodland that has stood in southeast England for more than four centuries is at the centre of a growing conservation battle after Kent County Council voted to pave the way for quarrying part of the forest for building stone used in some of Britain's best-known historic landmarks, the Guardian reported.

The Reform UK-led council has approved the inclusion of a 41-hectare section of Oaken Wood, near Maidstone, in its revised Kent Mineral Sites Plan. The move identifies the land as a potential source of Kentish ragstone and would allow the adjoining Hermitage Quarry to expand, subject to further approvals.

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The proposal has drawn strong opposition from local campaigners, wildlife organisations and Maidstone Borough Council, who argue that the loss of the woodland would inflict irreversible environmental damage.


According to the Guardian, the affected area is classified as a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS). Environmental groups say clearing it would destroy more ancient woodland than the combined impact of the HS2 rail project and the Lower Thames Crossing.

Heritage stone versus ancient ecosystem

Kentish ragstone has been quarried since Roman times and was used in the construction of Roman London. Kent County Council says additional supplies are needed not only for modern construction but also for restoring historic structures such as Canterbury Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Opponents, however, contend that preserving heritage buildings should not come at the cost of an irreplaceable natural habitat.

Oaken Wood has existed continuously for over 400 years and is managed through traditional sweet chestnut coppicing, a centuries-old practice in which sections of trees are cut on a rotational cycle to encourage regrowth and maintain biodiversity.

The woodland is recognised as a Local Wildlife Site and supports at least 26 ancient woodland plant species, including bluebells. It also provides habitat for threatened birds such as nightingales and nightjars, along with owls, dormice, rare insects and 18 butterfly species.

Campaigners also point to the ecological importance of the forest floor. Research cited by Kent Wildlife Trust indicates that although ancient woodland covers only about 2.5% of the UK's land area, it stores around 37% of the country's woodland carbon, with nearly three-quarters of that carbon locked underground in the soil.

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Can ancient woodland be recreated?

Gallagher Group, which operates the quarry, has proposed relocating the woodland's topsoil to another site before extracting the stone. The company says it would remove the sweet chestnut trees and plant twice as many native trees as part of a restoration programme.

Environmental lawyers and campaigners reject the idea that moving soil can recreate an ancient woodland ecosystem.

"It’s protected in exactly the same way, legally, because it’s not just about the fact that there’s newish growth of trees. You’ve got all the soils, you’ve got the fungi, you’ve got all of the wildlife. It is still irreplaceable. You couldn't just create this somewhere else," Brontie Ansell, managing director of Lawyers for Nature, told the Guardian.

Green Party councillor Rachel Rodwell also criticised the proposal, saying, "It’s just treated like garden topsoil. And they forget the interconnectivity. It’s not [just] the soil, it’s a living system."

She added that the debate reflects a broader tendency to view nature merely as a resource. "We’re treating nature as a commodity or a resource and we’re forgetting we’re part of the same system. And it’s this sense of entitlement that we can just strip it away and plunder it. It’s replicated across the country, across the globe."

Questions over planning process

Under England's National Planning Policy Framework, developments that would damage ancient woodland are expected to be refused unless there are wholly exceptional circumstances and suitable compensation measures.

Wildlife charities argue the proposal does not satisfy those requirements. They note that guidance from Natural England and The Woodland Trust recommends planting 30 hectares of new woodland for every hectare of ancient woodland lost. By that measure, replacing 41 hectares would require around 1,230 hectares of new woodland, something opponents say has not been demonstrated.

Campaigners also point out that the quarry previously expanded into 31 hectares of ancient woodland around a decade ago. If the latest proposal proceeds, a total of 72 hectares of Oaken Wood would have been lost.

They have also questioned the selection process, claiming that alternative quarry sites were dismissed for being too small without assessing whether several smaller sites together could meet demand.

The controversy has attracted widespread public attention, with more than 25,000 people submitting concerns during consultations held between 2023 and 2025, according to the Guardian. Maidstone Borough Council has also backed conservation efforts by adopting a Rights of Nature motion earlier this year.

A fresh public consultation on the updated Kent Mineral Sites Plan is scheduled to run from late July through September, after which the proposal will be considered by central government before any final decision is taken.