Matter of the Other World: Stunning photography of ancient stones

The Devil's Teeth, Bodmin Moor

Elizabeth Dale meets Sam Davison author of a new book showcasing stunning photography of Cornwall’s ancient sites

Men-an-Tol, West Penwith

With more prehistoric sites per square mile than anywhere else in Britain, Cornwall has a seemingly endless supply of enigmatic ancient remains just waiting to be discovered. So when Samuel Davison set himself the challenge in 2019 of visiting every standing stone in the county, it was an ambitious quest that would see him chased by angry cattle, lost on wild, foggy moorland, trudging through waist-high bracken, crossing rivers while balanced on rotten branches, and perhaps questioning his own sanity!

Three years on, Sam believes he has visited somewhere between 200 and 300 sites across Cornwall, and has just released his first book of photographs documenting this amazing adventure.

Matter of the Otherworld - the Ancient Stones and Megalithic Structures of Cornwall - is lovingly designed and thoughtfully curated. It does not contain images from every single stone that Sam has visited over the past few years - that would be one weighty tome - but it does gather a wide range of ancient monuments from the familiar to the much more obscure.

Over more than 400 pages, the book covers some 44 prehistoric sites - standing stones, stone circles and quoits, the length and breadth of Cornwall. Each entry contains multiple images of the featured megalith taken at all times of day and night and in different seasons or weathers, capturing the changing moods of these amazing monuments. A short description of the site’s history is included along with vital statistics and map coordinates to help you to discover these forgotten places for yourself.

Sam was born on Cornwall’s north coast, and beyond his love of landscape photography he has also worked as a luthier and jazz musician. His interest in the prehistoric world was piqued just a few years ago, when he was inspired to research some of the more famous megalithic structures, such as the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge - places that have been puzzling and exciting archaeologists around the world for centuries.

“Esoteric science, geomancy, sacred geometry, quantum mechanics, ancient eastern philosophy, you name it, I was reading a book about it!” he told me. “It sounds strange now, but for a while I had no idea of the parallels between the ancient stones in Cornwall and the rest of the world. One day, it just dawned on me to see what was here in Cornwall, and you can imagine my joy!

“Before I knew it, my dog Cody and I were travelling all over the place in my beat up 20-year-old car, trekking across all kinds of moorland and all sorts of offthe-beaten-track places, in all kinds of weather - often getting chased by large animals in the process!”

Once Sam started visiting the prehistoric sites on his own doorstep, such as Brown Willy, Rough Tor, Trethevy Quoit and the

Goodaver Stone Circle, Bodmin Moor

Stripple Stones, Bodmin Moor Lanyon Quoit, West Penwith

Drytree Menhir, Goonhilly Downs

Hurlers, he was completely hooked and decided that he wanted to see them all. “I became completely drawn to finding and photographing them as best I could,” he recalls. “It turned into a sort of treasure hunt, I guess, and it became impossible to stop.

“It wasn’t until I started capturing certain stones in a certain way that I began to see them in a different light, and then the idea to create a book about them was just something I had to do. Little did I know the challenge ahead!”

It seems a simple enough idea on paper; after all, plenty of these ancient sites are very well-known and easy to find. But there are many more obscure stones that are at best vague dots on an Ordnance Survey map, and at worst just a halfremembered rumour of some relic hidden somewhere in a bramble-covered hedge. Anyone who has found themselves wandering in circles on Bodmin Moor in the wind and the rain in search of a fallen granite standing stone among piles of, well... granite stones will know just what a challenge this must have been.

“Some of the stones were so difficult to find, it almost felt like I was being put through some kind of initiation process by them, and only through sheer determination would they reveal themselves to me,” Sam laughs, adding: “Nothing to do with my inexperience of trekking in the wilds, of course.”

Sam re-visited individual stones many times to get the right shot, at different times of the day/year, in all kinds of weather. “I’m certainly not complaining - it’s been one of the best experiences of my life,” Sam explains. “But I didn’t quite realise the task at hand, if I’m honest!”

One site in particular became very special to Sam: Men Gurta, also known as the St Breock Downs Longstone. This giant standing stone towers nearly 5m high and weighs an estimated 16.8 tons – reputedly the heaviest standing stone in Cornwall. The menhir stands only a short distance from Sam’s home, but he didn't realise it existed until he started his quest. His shots of this stone - and its close neighbour the St Breock Downs Menhir, juxtaposed against the backdrop of the nearby modern windturbines - are particularly striking.

What really shines through in these pages is the author’s love of and connection with these wonderful stones. And an important part of Sam’s mission is to get others interested in and excited about these ancient sites, and to encourage them to follow in his footsteps.

“By going to some of these places, you really get to see parts of Cornwall you would never normally know about - there is just so much to explore,” he says. “You never really know what’s going to be beyond that hill, across that field, or hidden in those woods. Whenever I’m driving around now, I’m always looking for where the next hidden stone might be!” l Order a copy of Matter of the Otherworld from Sam’s website: www.matteroftheotherworld.com