Where we build, and why the county matters.

Kent is mostly clay over chalk, and the two behave very differently under an arena. Wealden clay holds water and needs a drainage design that actually moves it somewhere, not just a perimeter trench. On the North Downs chalk you often get free draining ground and a much simpler build, which is one of the reasons two arenas ten miles apart can differ by five figures.

Surrey runs from London clay in the north to greensand and heath further south. The sandy ground rides and drains beautifully, but it can be unstable under a sub-base and needs a geotextile specification that suits it rather than a standard one copied from a clay site.

The Weald is heavy clay and the Downs are chalk, so Sussex asks the same question Kent does. On Wealden clay we would rather over specify the drainage than come back in three winters. Nearer the coast, a high water table changes the design again.

Essex is largely London clay with river gravels along the estuaries. It is some of the lowest rainfall in the country, which helps, but clay is still clay and a badly drained arena will still fail. The gravel sites can be very straightforward and are usually the cheapest builds we do.