Barton quarry community page

Hello future

On 02 October 2023 we rebranded to Heidelberg Materials. As well as aligning with our parent company, our new name better reflects the company we are today.

We’re focused on driving down carbon emissions, increasing the use of recycled materials to grow the circular economy and leading our industry towards net zero with innovative projects such as carbon capture and storage.

Some of the new Heidelberg Materials signage and vehicle livery is already in place and we hope to have completed this within the next two years. Please note that our email and website details have also changed.

Find out more

About Barton Quarry

Barton Quarry is a sand and gravel quarry located next to the A38, South of Burton-on-Trent. It opened in 1972 and covers an area of 290Ha and is currently producing approximately 500kt of and and gravel per annum through 2 processing plants. The Quartzitic material it produces from a river terrace deposit alongside the river Trent is primarily used for concrete and concrete products. Current reserves are around 1.4Mt, with a proposed extension providing a further 5.5Mt to the west of the existing site.

The site currently has 14 employees.

Interesting Fact: Barton was the site of one of the largest combined Emergency services training exercises in 2014 involving over 100 representative from the Fire Service, RAF, Army, Police and St Johns Ambulance.

Archaeological excavations at Barton Quarry

Heidelberg Materials' twelve-year relationship with Phoenix Consulting Archaeology Ltd has resulted in a number of excavations taking place across the quarry, with significant archaeological items being recovered dating from the Neolithic period (c. 3,500-2,000 BC) through to Medieval times (1066-1500). Barton Quarry has revealed a plethora of significant archaeological evidence providing a valuable source of information to historians and the local community about the past.

Excavation of a rectangular Saxon enclosure

Barton Quarry and Archaeology

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Community involvement

Heidelberg Materials part funded the Mythaholme bridge, which was installed at the Southern end of the site in 2004 and spans the River Trent. The bridge will eventually form part of the extended “Trent Valley way” long distance footpath, which will run from Birmingham to the Humber estuary.

Barton quarry project to support new quarry lake habitats

A project investigating the long-term management of rare quarry lake habitats at Barton sand and gravel quarry has been selected as one of just six schemes in the UK to participate in the fifth round of our biodiversity competition, the Quarry Life Award.

Barton quarry stars on screen

Barton quarry and concrete plant in Staffordshire is to feature in a children’s TV programme showing how concrete is made.

Barton assist upgrading local footpaths

The team at Barton quarry has helped a local youngster complete a Duke of Edinburgh Award project to upgrade local footpaths.

Restoration

Restoration progressively follows mineral extraction of this previously degraded landscape, due to intensive agriculture and river-drainage management. It aims to provide as natural an environment as possible, relating back to the original post glacial landscape of Floodplain Forest and wetlands that would have existed alongside a natural river with braided and backwater channels and oxbow lakes.

With early settlement and some woodland clearance this floodplain landscape would have incorporated such features as Riparian and wet floodplain woodland which fits in with the surrounding National Forest, enclosing open water with wetland margins and island complexes, flood meadows and wood pasture grazing areas.

These varied habitats are rapidly being reproduced and will provide ecosystems for species such as wildfowl and wading birds, fish and aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, such as otter and water vole.

Examples of floodplain restoration

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