The Spirit of Stone

From the lonely heights of mountains to the womblike depths of caves, stone has always drawn us in. In The Spirit of Stone, Wyl Menmuir explores the many ways in which rock and earth form part of our identities, histories and futures. 

Across Britain and Ireland, rock is everywhere beneath our feet, shaping not only our landscapes but also our imaginations and the ways we live together. 

Moving across these lands, Wyl Menmuir’s essays combine travelogue, social history and memoir, bringing together interviews, folklore and personal encounters with the landscapes themselves. 

From sacred monuments to modern sculpture, this book reveals how stone grounds us, challenges us and inspires us, such as: 

• Mountains and caves as places of pilgrimage, danger, refuge and wonder. 
• Ancient pathways and stone circles that leave traces of our ancestors written into the land. 
• Marks and monuments, from Neolithic carvings to contemporary sculpture, art that endures across centuries. 
• Everyday stone, for example the quarries, buildings and raw materials that underpin our daily lives. 

The Spirit of Stone follows on from The Draw of the Sea and The Heart of the Woods, completing a trilogy of explorations into our relationship with place. Where the first two books took readers to the water’s edge and into the forest, this book journeys into the landscapes of rock, stone and earth, reflecting on how they continue to define us. 

Resonant with the work of Robert Macfarlane, Kathleen Jamie and Peter Ross, yet strikingly original in its breadth and vision, The Spirit of Stone is a profound meditation on belonging, endurance and our shared human story written in stone.