An Oxford college’s plans to move a 300-year-old boundary stone have been met with objections by Historic England.

Christ Church is proposing to move the Grade II listed stone to facilitate the building of 1,450 new homes and a primary school on land near Barton in Oxford.

The proposed development has already been met with hostility from locals, who have cited concerns about its size and the impact it will have on wildlife.

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The college hopes to relocate the boundary stone, which can be found next to two other stones with no historical interest within its existing field.

The college claims that the movement will not cause any damage to it and suggested that the boundary stone has already been moved in the past.

But Historic England, the public body that champions heritage in this country, has questioned this.

Rachel Fletcher, inspector of historic buildings and areas at the organisation, said in an objection letter: “The boundary stone at Barton Village Road, whilst modest in appearance, is an important listed structure.

"At over 300 years old, it is a remarkable and rare survival from this time, explaining how the land ownership boundaries were demarcated.”

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She continues: “The proposal to relocate the listed stone, together with the gatepost and unmarked stone to a new location would be detrimental both in terms of the risk of damage to the fabric and the continued interpretation of their significance.

"This relates to those other features it sits near to (Bayswater Brook, the historical location of a bridge and what appears to be a historical pathway).

“Therefore we identify a high level of harm to the Grade II listed stone together with harm to the significance of those non-designated heritage assets of the gatepost and unmarked stone.”

Locals have also raised concerns about Christ Church’s plans to move the stone.

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Resident Stephanie Hancock commented on South Oxfordshire District Council’s public planning portal: “Boundary stones should not be moved. They are of historic interest and a heritage asset.

“Moving them will affect the environment around them, including wildlife.

“Totally against this ridiculous proposal.”

Stephanie Jenkins added on the portal: “The raison d’etre of any boundary stone lies in its position.

Oxford Mail: Christ Church in Oxford

“It is obviously very much in the developer’s interests to believe that this listed boundary stone has been moved, and it would be interesting to know why they think that anyone would have bothered to uproot such a small unobtrusive stone when this would have been done, and where they think it originally stood.”

Christ Church has previously said that its development on land north of Bayswater Brook in Barton would exceed biodiversity net gain targets and will use renewable and low carbon technologies.

A spokesperson for Christ Church said: “We understand the boundary stone was moved to their current location by Thames Water in the 1960s when constructing the new culvert, so we have been slightly surprised Historic England decided to list the stone.

"As part of the proposals, we plan to move the boundary stone to a new, prominent landscape setting close to the entrance of the site.

“As the stone has only been listed since we submitted our application, we have now submitted a listed building application to South Oxfordshire which can be found on its planning portal.”