This Quarry was used for the extraction of Kent Ragstone for road building. It was disused by the late 1970's. When finally sold to developers it was literally a hole in the ground and much work was needed to convert this land ready for building approx. 1000 homes.
The Downswood Community Association was founded in 1986 by a group of residents who had moved onto the new housing development 3 miles to the east of Maidstone Town Centre in the parish of Otham.
The original Association was named The Deringwood Community Association as the main spine road through the development is called Deringwood Drive. The objectives of the Association were to Promote the benefit of the inhabitants of this new area and to Secure the establishment of a Community Centre, which was one of the conditions set out on the plans, negotiated by Maidstone Borough Council and the developers, Wimpey.
After more discussion by the now, Downswood Community Association, The Community Centre was opened in September 1990 and holds approx. 300 people with it's large (sports size) hall, smaller lounge and large grassed surrounding area. It is now a popular meeting place for many different local groups. It has many other facilities, fully user friendly and is also available for private hire.
In 1987 The Parish of Downswood was established and it is believed to be one of the smallest Parishes in the south of England.
While the Downswood Community Association and the Downswood Parish Council are two totally different organisations the main objectives of both are to promote the benefit of residents of Downswood.