A Unique Feature in Habitat Restoration

In 1995 the decision was taken to turn part of a disused chalk quarry on Wye Downs into an amphitheatre. Three years later there now exists an auditorium seating 140.

Essentially the objective is to combine two activities normally regarded as separate, namely theatre and ecology hence its abbreviated name, "ecotheatre". The site left to itself would have become progressively overgrown and covered by trees. Controlled disturbance followed by grazing reinstates chalk grassland with its dozens of characteristic wild flowers. If "disturbance" takes the form of creating a theatre an opportunity is made at the same time not only for conservation but also for dramatic art.

The land in question is both a site of Special Scientific Interest and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty situated below Wye Crown, an historic monument with views across the Weald of Kent and Romney Marsh to the coast.

This unique project is co-sponsored by Ashford Borough Council, English Nature and Wye College, University of London. For further details contact Geoffrey P. Chapman, tel/fax: 01233 813011, email: harts@invictanet.co.uk