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The Stones of Britain: A History of Britain through its Geology
The Stones of Britain is about how rocks make places. The connection between geology and landscape, between the stones beneath the surface and the history that has played out above it. About the varied character of the British landscape, and the rich variety of places that result.
The shattered granite landscape of Dartmoor is different from the soft red sandstone hills of east Devon; the rolling chalk downs distinct from the gritty moors of Yorkshire. Each of these landscapes has a different historical story to tell; that story is rooted in the characteristics of the rocks beneath the surface.
The Stones of Britain interprets these stories. It explains the nature of place on the island of Britain, revealing the landscape as the joint product of geology and man: a history rooted in stone.
The shattered granite landscape of Dartmoor is different from the soft red sandstone hills of east Devon; the rolling chalk downs distinct from the gritty moors of Yorkshire. Each of these landscapes has a different historical story to tell; that story is rooted in the characteristics of the rocks beneath the surface.
The Stones of Britain interprets these stories. It explains the nature of place on the island of Britain, revealing the landscape as the joint product of geology and man: a history rooted in stone.
- GenresBritish Literature
352 pages, Hardcover
Published September 12, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 24, 2025
Disclaimer: I was a friend of Jon’s, and I was invited to the book’s launch. It is a fitting monument to an extraordinary man.
The book combines a little history of churches (his great love), other buildings, and industries, with the geology of Britain. To my mind, this is an interesting combination that sets this book apart from others of its ilk.
Highly recommended
The book combines a little history of churches (his great love), other buildings, and industries, with the geology of Britain. To my mind, this is an interesting combination that sets this book apart from others of its ilk.
Highly recommended
October 30, 2025
“My love of Heathcliff remembers the eternal rocks beneath,” says Cathy in Wuthering Heights. Jon Cannon quotes this whilst evocatively describing Top Withens, on which it is believed Wuthering Heights is based, as an “isolated gritstone farmstead, the ruins of which occupy the side of a dark scarp.”
Here we have the essence of this excellent new book, ‘The Stones of Britain,’ in which the author declares, “my entire theme is the extent to which people have reacted to the rocks, shaping the landscape as a result.”
Looking at the history of Britain and analysing its rich geology, Jon Cannon explains the ways in which humans have, since prehistory, been shaped by the ground on which they walked and encourages the reader to understand the impact of geology upon the history of the British Isles.
Organised in two parts, ‘The Stones of Britain’ begins with a sweeping survey of the evolution of our planet before homing in on Britain where the author describes the physical division (‘yin and yang’) of the geologically harsher, older and wilder landscape of the north and west with the more recent gentler and more fertile land to the south and east. Introducing the term ‘lithophilia’ to describe how cultures have responded to geology, Jon uses the opening section of the book to provide a framework of geological time from Neolithic humans crafting stone tools through to the current Anthropocene age, where human activity dominates the climate and environment. Geology has also impacted on the myths and legends that have resulted from our interaction with the stones beneath our feet, resulting in the ‘mythosphere’, which Jon imaginatively describes as “an invisible stratigraphic layer, lying on top of the rocks and earth”.
The second part of Stones of Britain is a thorough exploration of the geology (“rock-type by rock-type”) of Britain and how it has impacted our country’s appearance, development and character. Ranging from the ancient Precambrian of the Outer Hebrides in the north-west of Scotland to the Jurassic coast of Dorset and the Isle of Portland, where lies “the greatest Jurassic stone of all,” Jon dissects and describes how the British people, their industry, history and mythology, have evolved against this geological background.
Throughout this comprehensive examination of British lithophilia, we encounter a rich variety of geology creating landscapes such as Gothic Whitby, where St Hilda turned a plague of snakes to stone, and Glastonbury, where the Tor rises above the Isle of Avalon, and the ruins of the nearby abbey encouraged a rich mythospheric tradition.
‘The Stones of Britain’ is a book that can be read in full but also used as a reference during travel, as the second part is organised into several handy geological sections. To provide a flavour of this, I turned to chapter 7, titled ‘Carboniferous Industry,’ to immerse myself in the lithophilia and mythosphere of the harsher landscape with which I am more familiar.
In this area the Carboniferous gave us a rich variety of sedimentary rocks whose resources coalesced at the time of the Industrial Revolution, creating what Jon describes as a ‘geological timebomb’ that exploded in the 18th century, changing the world. The detonation saw the birth of industry at Ironbridge where limestones, sandstones, mudstones and clays, plus iron and coal enabled Abraham Darby and his son to improve the production of cast iron. The town of Coalbrookdale wasn’t situated on a river crossing or around a castle, but grew because of its geological location. In 1779-80, Ironbridge became the world’s first major metal bridge and its creation was a result of “the symbiotic potential of the stratigraphically arranged pile of Carboniferous rocks on the wooded valley-side”.
My home is in the Pennine uplands, the spine of England, and the “mightiest expression” of the Carboniferous in Britain. Here strong impervious sandstone, known as millstone grit, formed the landscape and character of the moors where Heathcliff roamed, whilst the softer limestone created the Yorkshire Dales below. This dramatic countryside of hills, such as Ingleborough and caverns such as Gaping Gill, is repeated further south in the Derbyshire Peak District where the sandstone and limestone Pennines bear the descriptive names of Dark and White Peaks. These meet spectacularly at Hope Dale, where medieval Peveril Castle, perched atop a limestone crag in the White Peak, looks across the valley to Mam Tor and its Bronze Age hillfort in the Dark Peak. Below Peveril Castle lies Peak Cavern, the largest cave entrance in Britain and popularly known as the Devil’s Arse due to “the sudden malodorous wind it is said to eject”.
Not only is ‘The Stones of Britain’ fascinating and informative, but more importantly it fulfils Jon’s wishes in making you want to get out and visit the places he so passionately describes. Indeed, from its very onset Jon’s description of Brentor Church, perched on its “dramatic hill of dark, shattered rock” wets the reader’s appetite to travel and explore. Introducing his subject, Jon writes “if I can help give anyone who lives in or visits this island a sense of the particularity, individuality and personality of landscapes, I will have done my job”. For this reader, he has definitely achieved his aim.
Phil Emery
Here we have the essence of this excellent new book, ‘The Stones of Britain,’ in which the author declares, “my entire theme is the extent to which people have reacted to the rocks, shaping the landscape as a result.”
Looking at the history of Britain and analysing its rich geology, Jon Cannon explains the ways in which humans have, since prehistory, been shaped by the ground on which they walked and encourages the reader to understand the impact of geology upon the history of the British Isles.
Organised in two parts, ‘The Stones of Britain’ begins with a sweeping survey of the evolution of our planet before homing in on Britain where the author describes the physical division (‘yin and yang’) of the geologically harsher, older and wilder landscape of the north and west with the more recent gentler and more fertile land to the south and east. Introducing the term ‘lithophilia’ to describe how cultures have responded to geology, Jon uses the opening section of the book to provide a framework of geological time from Neolithic humans crafting stone tools through to the current Anthropocene age, where human activity dominates the climate and environment. Geology has also impacted on the myths and legends that have resulted from our interaction with the stones beneath our feet, resulting in the ‘mythosphere’, which Jon imaginatively describes as “an invisible stratigraphic layer, lying on top of the rocks and earth”.
The second part of Stones of Britain is a thorough exploration of the geology (“rock-type by rock-type”) of Britain and how it has impacted our country’s appearance, development and character. Ranging from the ancient Precambrian of the Outer Hebrides in the north-west of Scotland to the Jurassic coast of Dorset and the Isle of Portland, where lies “the greatest Jurassic stone of all,” Jon dissects and describes how the British people, their industry, history and mythology, have evolved against this geological background.
Throughout this comprehensive examination of British lithophilia, we encounter a rich variety of geology creating landscapes such as Gothic Whitby, where St Hilda turned a plague of snakes to stone, and Glastonbury, where the Tor rises above the Isle of Avalon, and the ruins of the nearby abbey encouraged a rich mythospheric tradition.
‘The Stones of Britain’ is a book that can be read in full but also used as a reference during travel, as the second part is organised into several handy geological sections. To provide a flavour of this, I turned to chapter 7, titled ‘Carboniferous Industry,’ to immerse myself in the lithophilia and mythosphere of the harsher landscape with which I am more familiar.
In this area the Carboniferous gave us a rich variety of sedimentary rocks whose resources coalesced at the time of the Industrial Revolution, creating what Jon describes as a ‘geological timebomb’ that exploded in the 18th century, changing the world. The detonation saw the birth of industry at Ironbridge where limestones, sandstones, mudstones and clays, plus iron and coal enabled Abraham Darby and his son to improve the production of cast iron. The town of Coalbrookdale wasn’t situated on a river crossing or around a castle, but grew because of its geological location. In 1779-80, Ironbridge became the world’s first major metal bridge and its creation was a result of “the symbiotic potential of the stratigraphically arranged pile of Carboniferous rocks on the wooded valley-side”.
My home is in the Pennine uplands, the spine of England, and the “mightiest expression” of the Carboniferous in Britain. Here strong impervious sandstone, known as millstone grit, formed the landscape and character of the moors where Heathcliff roamed, whilst the softer limestone created the Yorkshire Dales below. This dramatic countryside of hills, such as Ingleborough and caverns such as Gaping Gill, is repeated further south in the Derbyshire Peak District where the sandstone and limestone Pennines bear the descriptive names of Dark and White Peaks. These meet spectacularly at Hope Dale, where medieval Peveril Castle, perched atop a limestone crag in the White Peak, looks across the valley to Mam Tor and its Bronze Age hillfort in the Dark Peak. Below Peveril Castle lies Peak Cavern, the largest cave entrance in Britain and popularly known as the Devil’s Arse due to “the sudden malodorous wind it is said to eject”.
Not only is ‘The Stones of Britain’ fascinating and informative, but more importantly it fulfils Jon’s wishes in making you want to get out and visit the places he so passionately describes. Indeed, from its very onset Jon’s description of Brentor Church, perched on its “dramatic hill of dark, shattered rock” wets the reader’s appetite to travel and explore. Introducing his subject, Jon writes “if I can help give anyone who lives in or visits this island a sense of the particularity, individuality and personality of landscapes, I will have done my job”. For this reader, he has definitely achieved his aim.
Phil Emery
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews