Pebbles People

The humble pebble, you might pick it up on a walk and skim it into the sea or enjoy the crunching sounds underfoot as you walk across the beach. Yet these humble pebbles that we interact with everyday are steeped in earth history. Their stories just bursting to be told to show them to be celebrated and so much more than the background object in our lives they so often are.

This animation of a pebble’s journey of what is now the ‘Jurassic Coast’ through time will kickstart our 20th anniversary celebrations. At the end of the animation you can see a painted pebble – these will be strategically placed somewhere along the coast by each of our partner organisations taking part. We encourage you to find and photograph all of the painted pebbles and share your photos with us!

(Please do not take these pebbles away, as taking pebbles from the beaches or decorating the beach pebbles yourselves can be harmful to our environment.)

Discovery of the human relations to our geology will be brought to you through our ambassadors, landowners, museums and visitor centres along the coast. Each month a pebble-related story will be told by those who interact with people and pebbles daily.

Follow @JurassicCoastScience on Instagram for regular pebble-related earth science content throughout the year.

Discover the locations and designs of hidden decorated pebbles just waiting to be found on the Jurassic Coast.

January 2022

Introducing ‘Pebbles People’ : a monthly series of videos about the human connection to geology. Geology can influence our everyday lives in ways we might not even realise and impacting our feelings about a place.

January’s question is, “What are the most common pebbles you find on the beach nearest to you?” Answered by some of the visitor centres along the Jurassic Coast.