Chalk Piddocks – Angel Wings – Beachy Head
Price range: £40.00 through £310.00
Description
Chalk Piddocks – Angel Wings – Beachy Head
Print description
At low tide, the rock pools below the cliffs of Beachy Head reveal hidden marine life: seaweeds and chalk pebbles that have been perfectly hollowed out. These smooth chambers are made by piddocks, also known as angel wings, which bore into the soft chalk to create their homes. This print is a record of my daily spring walks and runs and night studies of wild flowers in 2025
Print details
Digital pigment print from original ink drawings. Printed on fine art paper using archival inks. Available in sizes A0,A1, A2, A3 or A4 as limited editions of 100. Each print is individually signed and numbered.
Chalk Piddocks in Sussex
Piddocks; often called angel wings for the delicate shape of their shells; are bivalve molluscs specially adapted to live in soft rock. Along the Sussex coast—where chalk meets the sea—they carve out burrows in the cliff base, boulders and tidal platforms. Using a combination of mechanical rasping and chemical dissolution, they slowly grind themselves a chamber that protects them from waves and predators. Once settled, they remain there for life.
Beachy Head – Beachy Head West Nature Reserve
The shoreline beneath Beachy Head forms part of the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone, a protected stretch of chalk coast running between Brighton and Eastbourne. It is one of the few places in the world where submerged chalk reefs, cliffs and wave-cut platforms meet in a continuous landscape shaped by sea, wind, and tide.
The reserve is known for its rich chalk grassland above the cliffs and specialised marine life below. The thin, sun-exposed turf supports Horseshoe Vetch, Thrift, and other plants that are adapted to chalk soils and grazing. Offshore and in the intertidal zone, the chalk itself becomes habitat—shelter for soft-bodied marine species, algae, sponges, and piddocks (angel wings) that bore into the chalk to create their homes. These burrows change the rock over time, leaving behind sculptural hollows and honeycombed surfaces.
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Additional information
| Dimensions | N/A |
|---|---|
| Print sizes: standard portrait and square | A0 print size, portrait, A1 print size, portrait, A2 print size, portrait, A3 print size, portrait, A4 print size, portrait |