Stone Lands
On sale
19th June 2025
Price: £24.99
‘There’s a real sense of peace and magic in this beautiful book’ Daisy Buchanan
‘Utterly endearing’ Dr James Canton
‘A fantastic book for weird walkers and megalith-obsessives alike’ Weird Walk
Journeying across Britain, from West Penwith and Avebury to the Lake District and Orkney, Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of our incredible prehistoric standing stones. It conveys the delight that lies in tracking them down, as well as the solace these ancient places offer in times of darkness.
A few months after discovering that her beloved husband, Stephen, had incurable cancer, Fiona Robertson began to write this book. A long-time megalith enthusiast, she found the ancient stones resonated with her more profoundly than ever as she faced the prospect of losing him. Set upright thousands of years ago, the megaliths are symbols of endurance and survival, standing in contrast to our ephemeral human lives. Infused with folklore, legend and mystery, they enchant the landscape and bring magic to our modern world.
This enthralling memoir is woven delicately around great grief but is ultimately about embracing life, joy and ancient wonder – a luminous reminder of what it means to exist on this earth.
Stone Lands is beautifully illustrated inside with stunning black and white line drawings by the illustrator and printmaker Philip Harris. Find out more about his work: http://www.philipharrisillustration.com
‘Utterly endearing’ Dr James Canton
‘A fantastic book for weird walkers and megalith-obsessives alike’ Weird Walk
Journeying across Britain, from West Penwith and Avebury to the Lake District and Orkney, Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of our incredible prehistoric standing stones. It conveys the delight that lies in tracking them down, as well as the solace these ancient places offer in times of darkness.
A few months after discovering that her beloved husband, Stephen, had incurable cancer, Fiona Robertson began to write this book. A long-time megalith enthusiast, she found the ancient stones resonated with her more profoundly than ever as she faced the prospect of losing him. Set upright thousands of years ago, the megaliths are symbols of endurance and survival, standing in contrast to our ephemeral human lives. Infused with folklore, legend and mystery, they enchant the landscape and bring magic to our modern world.
This enthralling memoir is woven delicately around great grief but is ultimately about embracing life, joy and ancient wonder – a luminous reminder of what it means to exist on this earth.
Stone Lands is beautifully illustrated inside with stunning black and white line drawings by the illustrator and printmaker Philip Harris. Find out more about his work: http://www.philipharrisillustration.com
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Reviews
'Written with great craft, sensitivity and authority, Fiona Robertson offers a wonderfully evocative, and at times deeply personal and poignant, account of the ancient sites and landscapes of Britain. There is a resonance here to artists and writers such as Nash, Ravilious and Blake, and that tradition of deeply embedded landscape romanticism and sense of place that runs through our engagement with traces of a prehistoric past.'
'A wonderful and moving book: part personal memoir and part tribute to the megaliths in our midst which - in strange and subtle ways - still have so much wisdom to impart.'
'An utterly endearing account of seeking the ancient wonders of the prehistoric stone sites of Britain, told against the backdrop of such poignant personal heartache. Stone Lands brims with the intrigue and delight of the modern antiquarian who journeys to the sacred spaces of these isles to connect with the ways of our ancestors.'
'A wonderful story of grief, self-discovery, hope and reconnection to our ancient past and landscapes, in which Fiona Robertson takes us on her own deeply personal journey and by doing so, shows us the power of looking back in order to move forward.'
'There's a real sense of peace and magic in this beautiful book - it's filled with stories and ideas about loss and reconnection through our ancient landscapes that will help us all to heal.'
'An extremely relatable memoir, densely packed with the author's first-hand experiences as a committed "stone hunter". As well as an inspiring tour of the megalithic landscapes of these isles, Stone Lands is a human journey into grief, hope and love. It's a fantastic book for weird walkers and megalith-obsessives alike.'