Ancient pebbles

Budleigh Salterton has one of the oldest stories within the World Heritage Site - a story that is also spread out along the length of this coast and beyond!

To the west of the sea front lie the famous Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds.  The pebbles are composed of hard quartzite identical to 440 million year old rocks found in Brittany.  The pebbles were formed and transported in one of the giant rivers that flowed into the Triassic dessert about 240 million years ago.

Over the last few thousand years the pebbles have been falling from the cliffs and today form the built of the beach at Budleigh Salterton.  The larger cobbles and pebbles are very hard and unlike any other rock type found in Southern England.  As a result they survive as they are transported along the coast by the waves.  They can be found from Slapton Sands in Devon to Hastings in Kent.

Pebbles on the Beach

Beaches are found throughout the World Heritage Site.  At Budleigh the beach is made almost entirely of pebbles eroded from the local cliffs.  Other beaches on the coast are made from different materials, mainly flint and chert.

Longshore Drift

Pebbles move along the beach when waves strike the beach at an angle.  The pebbles are carried up the beach in the same direction as the wave before being dragged down the beach as the water drains away.  So the pebbles move in a saw shaped patter along the beach.