The Stones of Britain is about how rocks make places and how our island history is written in stone.
7th July 2025
Hardcover
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Summary
The Stones of Britain is about how rocks make places and how our island history is written in stone.
Description
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.About the Author
Jon Cannon (1962 - 2023), architectural historian, lecturer and Canon Historian for Bristol Cathedral, worked for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monument of England and English Heritage. He is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including Cathedral: The Great English Cathedrals and the World that Made Them (Constable, 2007), The Secret Language of Sacred Places (Duncan Bird Publishing 2013) and Medieval Church Architecture (Shire Publications 2014). Jon also presented the TV documentary How to Build a Cathedral on BBC4 (2008).
Jon lived with his family on the chalk downs of Wiltshire, from which he wrote, taught and thought about place, sacredness and architecture. Jon died in May 2023. For more than a decade, Jon was 'Keeper of the Fabric', then 'Canon Historian', at Bristol Cathedral, and his memorial, carved into the fabric of the Cathedral's Berkeley Chapel, recognises his significant contribution to the building, and his wider contribution to the understanding and appreciation of religious buildings. Jon wrote: 'I have a vocation, and it's to do with places; with communicating, enthusing, analysing - in short, extolling - about the nature of "old places", and what makes them tick.'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.
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7th July 2025
