Gravel driveways in Aylesbury
The cheapest driveway you can build properly. Fully permeable, quick to install, simple to repair, and much better than its reputation — because its reputation was earned by gravel tipped onto soil with nothing holding it in.
Gravel driveway
£45–£85 / m²
Lower end where the existing ground is sound and little has to be carted away. Upper end for full excavation, a gravel grid throughout and new edge restraints.
See how the price is built up →
If you're working to a budget
This is already the budget answer, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. If the figure still doesn't fit, reduce the area before you reduce the build-up — a smaller drive built correctly beats a larger one built on 75mm of stone.
What a properly built gravel drive is made of
Excavate to depth and cart away. Geotextile membrane over the formation so the sub-base and the subsoil never mix. 150mm of MOT Type 1 laid in 75mm layers and compacted separately. Edges — block, kerb or steel — haunched in concrete, because gravel is only as good as the thing stopping it leaving.
Then a gravel grid: a cellular panel that holds the stone in place under a turning wheel. Angular 10–20mm stone fills and slightly overfills the cells. That build-up is the same structure as a block paved drive, minus the blocks.
When gravel is right — and when it isn't
When it's the right choice
- Budget is the deciding factor and you'd rather have the base done properly than the surface done prettily.
- You need permeability without a soakaway — gravel drains through, so surface water rules don't apply.
- It's a long driveway, a parking area or a rural approach where the look suits the house.
- You may dig it up later for services. Gravel is the only surface where a repair is invisible.
When it isn't — say so and pick something else
- The drive is steep. Above a modest gradient gravel migrates downhill onto the road, grid or no grid.
- Wheelchair, pushchair or heavy trolley access matters. Gravel is hard work to push across.
- It opens straight onto a busy pavement and you can't restrain the edge properly.
- You want a crisp, formal frontage. Block paving or resin will do more for kerb appeal.
Five-year workmanship guarantee, sub-base included
Most guarantees quietly stop at the surface. Ours covers the part you can't see: the excavation depth, the membrane, the compacted sub-base, the falls and the edge restraints. If the ground work moves, we come back and put it right.
A fixed price before anyone starts digging
We measure, agree the build-up in writing and give you one price. It doesn't move unless you change what you've asked for, or unless we open the ground and find something nobody could have known was there — in which case we stop, show you, and agree the cost with you before we carry on.
Common questions about gravel
Is a gravel driveway a compromise?
Not when it's built properly. Excavated to depth, membrane down, 150mm of MOT Type 1 compacted in layers, a gravel grid to stop migration and edges restrained — that is a driveway, not a shortcut. What gives gravel its reputation is stone tipped onto soil with no edge to hold it.
Does the gravel move?
Loose gravel over nothing does. Gravel laid into a grid and held by a restrained edge stays where it's put, including in the wheel tracks where cars turn. You still top it up occasionally — that's normal maintenance, and it's cheap.
Do I need planning permission?
Gravel is permeable, so a gravel drive does not need permission on the grounds of surface water run-off. Dropping a kerb across a public footway is a separate application to the council either way.
Which size of stone?
Angular stone at roughly 10–20mm locks together and stays put. Rounded pea shingle rolls under tyres and migrates. On a slope, gravel is the wrong choice above a certain gradient and we'll say so rather than take the job.
Is it hard to keep clean?
It's easy to rake and it hides staining well. Leaves are the nuisance — a blower rather than a brush. Weeds germinate in wind-blown dirt on top of the stone, not through the membrane, so a periodic rake matters more than any chemical.
Towns we cover
We're based in Aylesbury and work about ten miles around it.
- Aylesbury
- Bierton
- Stoke Mandeville
- Weston Turville
- Aston Clinton
- Wendover
- Waddesdon
- Wingrave
- Whitchurch
- Quainton
- Wing
- Haddenham