Pea Gravel Cost Per Tonne

The Short Answer

By Gary Hodson · Ex-Army. I do the sums so you buy the right amount. · Prices read off supplier product pages on 18 August 2026 and re-checked on 1 October 2026; coverage, density, depth and play-surface statements checked against the supplier, producer and standards pages listed under Sources · Last reviewed 8 October 2026

Bought in bulk bags or loose, pea gravel and its close cousins cost between about £55 and £233 a tonne in the UK. Buy it in small decorative bags off a shelf and the same stone is nearer £780 a tonne. Some of that gap is a genuine difference in product: the cheapest rows are merchant aggregate, sold by the yard for building work, and the dearest are washed, graded decorative stone sold for a garden. But some of the gap is just the door you walk through, and the table below labels which is which so you can tell them apart.

On a 20 square metre path at 50mm deep, roughly 1.5 tonnes, that spread is the difference between about £83 and about £350 of stone. Worth ten minutes on the phone. (The 1.5 tonnes is our calculator's figure. Travis Perkins' own coverage figure gives about 1.3 to 1.6 tonnes for the same path², and the heavier supplier figures further down push it nearer 2 tonnes.)

Pea Gravel Prices, By Supplier

Every row read off the supplier's own product page on 18 August 2026, linked in the first column so you can check it. The per-tonne column is our sum from the price and the stated bag weight. Read the Type column before comparing two rows: merchant aggregate and washed decorative stone are not the same product even when the stone size matches. The Wickes row is marked inferred because on 18 August that product page gave a price per kilo rather than a bag weight, so the per tonne figure was worked from the rate rather than read off the page. Kingfisher's page shows both prices, £149.99 ex VAT and £179.99 inc VAT, so that row uses the inc VAT price, the same basis as the other rows that state VAT. Jewson and Mainland Aggregates both hide prices behind a postcode, so they are not in the table rather than guessed at.

What That Costs Per Square Metre

Our gravel calculator works on 1,500 kg per cubic metre for surface gravel, so at 50mm deep you need about 75kg a square metre.

Travis Perkins says one 800kg bulk bag covers 10 to 12 square metres at that depth², which is 67 to 80kg a square metre and agrees. Other suppliers' own figures for pea gravel run heavier, as the list below shows, so treat 75kg as the light end and check your supplier's coverage figure before you order.

Our own arithmetic at 75kg a square metre, the light end of the supplier figures listed below. If your supplier's coverage works out heavier, scale these up to match. Decorative Aggregates recommends laying its pea gravel 4 to 5cm deep¹, so if you go deeper than 50mm scale them up as well. For your real measurements use the gravel calculator, which gives tonnes and bulk bags for the area and depth you enter.

What suppliers say a bulk bag covers, and what pea gravel weighs

• Kingfisher Direct says its 850kg pea gravel bulk bag covers 8 to 10 square metres at 50mm deep³, which is about 85 to 106kg a square metre.
• Mainland Aggregates says one 850kg bulk bag of its 10mm gravel covers about 10 square metres at 50mm deep⁴, about 85kg a square metre.
• Mainland Aggregates gives the density of that 10mm gravel as about 1.7 tonnes per cubic metre⁴.
• Mainland Aggregates also says 10mm gravel used on a path should be laid no more than 40 to 50mm deep⁴.
• British Sugar TOPSOIL's bulk-density guide lists pea gravel at 1.8 tonnes per cubic metre and shingle at 1.6, both at light consolidation⁵. At 50mm deep, 1.8 tonnes works out at 90kg a square metre.
• Earth Haulage lists 4-10mm pea shingle at 1.39 tonnes per cubic metre loose and 1.46 compacted, and 10-20mm shingle at 1.42 loose and 1.55 compacted⁶. Those sit close to our 1,500kg figure.
• Travis Perkins sells its 20mm bulk bag as 800kg, and says the weight can run up to 850kg depending on moisture². A wet bag weighs more without holding more stone.

Before You Order

• Check the bag weight, not the word "bulk bag". The bags above run 750kg to 850kg. A 750kg bag at £175 and an 850kg bag at £53.50 are not remotely the same purchase.
• Ask what delivery costs. Some prices include it, some do not, and a merchant a mile away may beat a national supplier once carriage is on.
• Ask about loose tipped. Rose Building Supplies sells loose at £66 a tonne. Loose loads usually come with a minimum order, so ask what it is. If you have somewhere to tip it and a barrow, loose usually beats bagged.
• Check VAT. Trade merchants often quote ex VAT and DIY sheds quote inc VAT, which is a silent 20 per cent on any comparison.
• Not a play surface. Playground safety surfacing is tested to BS EN 1177⁷, which gives a surface a critical fall height: the upper limit of its effectiveness in reducing head injury⁸. So a surface has to suit the height of your equipment. Ordinary landscaping pea gravel is sold by the bag for paths and borders, not as a tested playground surface, so do not put it under a frame and assume it will do the job. Check what the equipment maker asks for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Work Out Your Quantity