An interview with: Fiona Robertson (Author of 'Stone Lands')
- Brandon Pestano
- Aug 3
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 4
Astral discuss all things monolithic with author @stone_lands
In this interview we speak with Fiona Robertson, fresh off the release of her new book 'Stone Lands' released June 2025, as the author shares insights into the inspirations behind the book and her thoughts on some of the enduring mysteries surrounding stone circles...
"Stone Lands combines folklore, history and archaeology with insights from a range of interesting stones enthusiasts, from dowsers and pagans to artists, musicians and walkers to archivists and archaeologists. Describing her decades long personal quest to explore the standing stones of Britain, it emphasises the wellbeing benefits that visiting ancients sites can bring, offering a way of connecting with nature, the past and ancient ways of being. Threaded through the book is the story of Fiona’s experiences of megalith hunting with her husband, Stephen, who she lost to cancer. While this story of loss and grief provides a narrative arc, this is a book very much about finding joy and embracing life whatever troubles we face. Fiona celebrates the empowering nature of megalith hunting, a hobby that, in her opinion, offers a profound way of interacting with our collective past and individual fates. Most of all she makes the point that tramping through fields in search of standing stones is just a huge amount of FUN." - www.hardmanswainson.com
Read on below for the full interview...
When did your intrigue into the ancient past begin and how long have you been fascinated by all things monolithic?
I can't remember when I first saw a standing stone – it feels like I've known about them all my life. What properly hooked me was a trip to Avebury in my late teens. I was completely blown away by these strange upright ancient megaliths surrounding this little Wiltshire village, each of the stones seeming to have a character and even a consciousness of its own. It was an encounter that shaped my imagination and stayed with me.
Let's talk Stone Lands! How did the inspiration come about for writing this book and what do you hope that people may be able to learn from it?
I started working on the book after my husband Stephen was diagnosed with a very serious illness. It began as a distraction really as everything had suddenly become so awful – I wanted to have something to lose myself in. But also I was having these thoughts about the stones representing human qualities such as strength, endurance and patience, and I found it helpful to be thinking about these things as I went through this very dark time. What I hope people will take from the book is just how many incredible ancient places we have in Britain – so many more than the obvious sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury and Castlerigg (although these three are all astounding!) – and there is nothing more fun (in my opinion) than to go out looking for them.
What delights you most about the folk revival that is happening in modern culture and why do you think that more people are being drawn towards a more ancient connection to the land and beliefs?
Amidst all the awfulness in the world today, I love that it's still possible to do this very simple and nourishing and wonderful thing of walking to a stone, and I am delighted that more and more people are getting into this. The folk revival puts a focus on the turning seasons and we know that prehistoric people were preoccupied with these too, because so many of their monuments are aligned with the position of the sun on the horizon at midwinter and midsummer. I find it very moving that here in the 21st century we are increasingly drawn to standing stones to observe these seasonal moments. Standing stones seem to remind us of the things that matter – the transient nature of our lives, our relationship to the land, and the urgent need for our society to place more value on the privilege of being alive and on protecting this earth that sustains us.
It is believed by some that monoliths have an energetic healing property to them, what are your thoughts on this and have you encountered any stories in regards to stones healing people?
When I was writing the book, I asked a lot of people about their experiences with stones and quite a few spoke to me about healing experiences. These ranged from having headaches taken away by resting their forehead on the stones to stories about these ancient places somehow helping in the healing of much more serious conditions. I feel what's important here is people's beliefs – if the stones make you feel relaxed and at peace and strong in yourself, then surely spending time among them will be beneficial.
How is it possible that there are so many different stone circles in varying locations across the world and does this point to some sort of communication between ancient peoples and their beliefs or do you believe they originated independently perhaps arising as a result of the similarities in human thinking e.g the idea of the archetype and collective unconscious?
It's probably a bit of both. To take just one example, the Bronze Age cist on Whitehorse Hill on Dartmoor contained beads made of amber from the Baltic. So goods did travel over long distances and ideas would have travelled with them. But I'm sure standing stones derive their power from archetypes too – just think of the stone circle, which echoes the shape of the sun and also the turning wheel of the year. There's also the obvious phallic emblem of a standing stone – not that I'm saying all stones have a masculine energy (far from it), but some of them really do.
Monoliths essentially immortalise the people who made them. What are your views on how monoliths are in a sense an attempt for those who created them to transcend time and create something everlasting and do you enjoy the experience of attempting to relate to the intention of those who created them?
Some archaeologists theorise that the stones would have represented individuals known to the tribe or the group's mythic ancestors. And we still raise stones to people today – just look at any cemetery. Stone is of course that most long-lasting of materials, so by creating a stone monument we are trying to cheat death and we're trying to do that still. What I find really touching is this human impetus that has lasted through time and is rooted in love for those we have lost, although it's sad too because this impetus to leave our mark on the landscape has fed into today's environmental crisis. I often wonder, when looking at the view from an ancient site (which is often stupendous – the ancient builders really did know what they were doing when they chose the locations for their stones) whether the feelings of awe and wonderment that arise in my heart would have been shared by prehistoric people too. And I suspect they did. I love trying to catch an echo of what those long-lost people might have felt at their stones.
What does 'spirituality' mean to you?
For me it means that there are more things in heaven and earth than are encompassed in our rationalist, materialist approach to life. We humans have a tendency to make meaning from a few bits of evidence, we are all barristers at heart who make a compelling case for x, y and z being the only reality, but there is still much that we can't explain. We still don't have an answer to the fundamental question of life: why is there something rather than nothing? I don't follow any formal religious practice but I am increasingly wondering about all of this.
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You can purchase Stone Lands (2025) via:
& follow Fiona Robertson via:
- Astral Magazine
