Sophie’s new book, Rock Idols: a guide to Dartmoor in 28 tors – is out now with Wild Things Publishing. It is a co-production with her husband Alex Murdin, and features amazing new drawings (by Alex) of the moor’s charismatic natural monoliths.
“A personal and poignant book“, Matthew Shaw, Stone Club
“A very good book“, John Harris, Guardian columnist
“Excellent, a must-have book“, Max Piper, Tors of Dartmoor website
Caught by the River have featured the book – you can read an article about it HERE.
Muddy Stilettos have also done a piece – you can read it HERE.
REVIEWS:
John Harris, of The Guardian, wrote about Rock Idols on his Substack
“… a very good new book: Rock Idols by Sophie Pierce and Alex Murdin, evokes and explores the moor by zeroing on 28 of its tors, exhuming some of the literature and art it has inspired, and presenting some of Alex’s brilliant drawings of its landscape. Dartmoor, they write, is “all about dirt and drama, mud and magic”. They describe “dim shapes looming dark and cold out of swirling mist; blue shadows melting into a river of bluebells; hazy stacks shimmering under an adder-baking summer’s sun.” It’s all there, but what they keep coming back to are those rocky summits, their anthropomorphic features, and their mixture of “familiarity and granite inhumanity”. The book is the same dimensions as most walkers’ guides. It’ll fit snugly into the outside pocket of a rucksack. Rock Idols will be coming with us on our next trek, very soon.”
Rock Idols was Stone Club’s April book of the month in 2025. They wrote:
“An essential guide to 28 Tors across Dartmoor. This is a personal and poignant book, a series of walks that cover such a rich seam of emotions, from joy to loss. Adventuring to remote places and recounting familiar and better known sites. We recommend everyone visits Dartmoor with this book to hand, their life will be richer for it!“
About Rock Idols:
Fantastical yet natural, Dartmoor’s 280-million-year-old tors are among the most iconic landmarks in Southern Britain. Victorian antiquarians described them as ‘rock idols’, believing them to be stone deities worshipped by the Druids. Thousands of years before that, they inspired our ancestors who built ceremonial stone rows and circles aligned on them. Today, the tors are loved by walkers, climbers and locals, who visit in their thousands every year.
Rock Idols is a hymn to these mysterious monoliths, in which the authors share tales of their trips to 28 of the tors. With stunning original drawings, the book delves into the moor’s archaeology, folklore and geology. It is a meditation on the human relationship with ancient stones and wild places, and the hold they have over our imagination.
Featured image of Alex and Sophie by Emma Stoner.
Contact: sophieATsophiepierce.co.uk