Kentish ragstone
Kentish ragstone is a hard grey limestone in Kent, England, drawn from the geological sequence known as the Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand.
Ragstone occurs in a geological formation known in the Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand, a layer of limestones running from Kent into Surrey which was laid down in the Cretaceous period.
[4][5] It is possible that ragstone quarrying contributed to the rise of a small town in the Maidstone area in Roman times.
Most of Kent’s medieval parish churches were built of ragstone and although in Tudor times stone buildings went out of fashion in favour of brick, the demand for Gothic-style buildings in Victorian times led to many churches in south-east East England being built of ragstone.
Ragstone was – and still is - also used in roads, and modern quarrying methods allow a wide range of products to be supplied today.
Modern demand is busy and diverse, however, with about 60 different products being required for use in the ready mix concrete, road building and engineering industries.
If ragstone cannot be obtained locally, historic buildings such as Rochester Castle, the Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone or the city walls at Canterbury will have to be repaired with stone imported from abroad or elsewhere in the UK, making it difficult to blend in repairs with a traditional Kentish ragstone appearance.
[13] In 2001 owners Hanson Aggregates decided to close the site and relocate to the quarry at Blaise Farm, near Offham, which was estimated to have reserves of 35 million tonnes.
[13] In the nineteenth century, this quarry was an important source of ragstone but the site is most famous for Gideon Mantell’s discovery of the fossilised bones of an Iguanodon in 1834.
Explosives were regularly used to uncover fresh sources of ragstone but, on this occasion, bones were exposed and preserved by the quarry owner, William Bensted.
[22][23] Boughton Monchelsea was an agricultural settlement with several ragstone quarries which had been worked since Roman times, making use of the river Medway to keep London supplied with building stone.
In October 1830, following crop failures and political unrest, a mob of 500-600 men gathered in the quarries with the intention of marching on Maidstone.
When Ditton Quarry closed down in 1984, quarrying operations had left behind a legacy of a lime-rich soil which formed the foundation of a thriving habitat for plants and wildlife; 140 wild flowers (including five that are rare in Kent), 18 butterfly species, and 50 bird species have been recorded.
[26] The quarry is also a prime location for geological research and provides opportunities for field studies in a variety of disciplines: sedimentology, stratigraphy, palaeontology, geography, and industrial archaeology.
The quarry could be important for future research via gamma ray profiling of the rock beds in relation to changes in sea level and climate.
An old quarry face on the eastern side of the estate is visible and shows the characteristic alternate layers of ragstone and Hassock.
Gallagher Aggregates Limited operate the Hermitage Quarry, which is situated 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the south of Ditton village.
On balance, however, members felt the job prospects and the economic need for ragstone to support construction in the county in future, and benefits of the project, outweighed these objections.
[32][33] This is one of two ragstone outcrops that can be found in Maidstone town, and is valuable as an educational site for the earth sciences.
The rock face is a good example of ragstone and hassock layering together with others less common features resulting from cambering[35] towards Loose Valley, such as jointing, faulting and gulls.
[36] This quarry originated as a source of supply of aggregate to the road-building and construction industries, and has been used as a landfill site since the early 1980s.
[37] This disused and partly overgrown quarry is in 26 hectares of ancient mixed woodland located near West Farleigh.
