The Ultimate Guide To Slate Monoliths And Feature Stones

Every garden or outdoor space needs an attractive focal point or central feature to complement the surrounding environment. If you’re looking to add some intrigue to your garden, there’s nothing quite like a striking slate monolith.

Monoliths and standing stones have been used across the world for thousands of years for different purposes, such as decorative, religious, or imposing landscaping features. 

Even the mysterious Stonehenge was originally built with smaller bluestone from Preseli Hills in southwest Wales. In fact, they loved the stones so much they moved them over 150 miles east to Wiltshire! These days, striking Welsh slate is used for monoliths, holloliths, standing stones and feature stones for gardens and are the perfect way to create a statement or an unusual talking point.

What is a Slate Monolith, Standing Stone and Feature Stone?

No matter what style of garden you have, slate monoliths look absolutely stunning and are a real conversation starter. They are larger and taller than decorative aggregates, and single slate stones may be either chunky or slender.

Feature stones are not as tall and vary in size; some are cut to create a clean look, and some are left to their natural shape. Feature stones and monoliths make an absolutely stunning centrepiece for any garden, gravelled area or rockery, and as they have flat bases they do not require burying into the ground.

Where can Slate Monoliths, Standing Stones and Feature Stones be used?

• Water features

• Gardens

• Planting areas

• Rockeries

• Slate Water Features & Waterfalls

• Gravel Gardens

• Patios

• Ponds

• Garden high points and hills

• Borders

What is the difference between a Monolith vs Hollolith?

Slate Monoliths are tall, beautiful garden features with flat bases and show no externally drilled holes. By contrast, Slate Holloliths start out as monoliths before a large borehole is drilled through the centre to create an interesting and stylish garden feature.

What are monoliths made from?

Decorative monoliths are made from beautiful Welsh slate. If you’re looking for a different shade or textured stone for your garden feature, see our stunning Welsh Quartz Granite Boulders.

Choosing your Slate Monoliths, Holloliths or Feature Stones

An impressive range of stunning slate monoliths, holloliths and feature stones are available in different sizes, colours and shapes to suit all project ideas and styles of garden. 

Slate Monoliths

Every monolith has its own unique colour, stature, and character. Rustic and rugged, monoliths provide a really natural look, perfect for any garden. 

Beautiful Slate Monoliths are available in 600mm or 900mm and can be slender or chunky. If you are looking for a striking water feature, choosing a drilled monolith is the ideal choice and will make any area stand out with the relaxing sound and sight of shimmering, gentle, flowing water.

If you’re looking to add some colour diversity to your garden, smaller sized monoliths come in a range of attractive colour tones, including blue, grey, and plum, and can be used alongside decorative garden stones including cobbles or gravels to give the monolith base extra character and create a truly stunning garden feature.

No matter what design you have in mind for your garden or outdoor area, medium sized 1200mm Slate Monoliths are an impressive piece of natural graphite grey slate that are bound to impress visitors and onlookers and are available drilled; ready to be transformed into an eye-catching water feature. However, a heavy duty base or sump will be required.

For a bigger impact, and to give your garden a sense of height and scale, the 1500mm Slate Monolith is the ideal choice. This stylish graphite grey monolith features streaks of beautiful golden seams running throughout, and like other monoliths is available drilled or undrilled.

The magnificent 1800mm Slate Monolith can be drilled or undrilled and is available in mixed tones of blue, grey, and plum which will instantly transform any garden or feature area such as a rockery and is guaranteed to make an immediate impression.

If you’re interested in using slate monoliths to create a beautiful rockery for your garden, read our helpful how-to guide here.

Drilled Slate Holloliths

If you’re aiming to improve the look of your garden with a contemporary slate garden feature, Drilled Hollolith’s are the perfect choice. They are available in a stylish mix of grey and blue slate tones with the choice of either 600mm or 900mm tall.

These distinctive slate stones start out as monoliths and a large borehole is drilled through the centre with the base cut to a smooth, flat finish. A separate hole is then drilled from the base to the middle of the borehole, creating a truly beautiful water feature.

Hollolith’s complement all garden themes and styles and add a contemporary twist to any design - a must-have for any garden project.

Slate Standing Stones

If you’re looking to give your garden an instant focal point, beautiful grey Slate Standing Stones are the perfect option. These stunning garden stones vary in shape naturally and some are chunky and some are slender; they can be used singly or in any combination to create truly unique garden features that will add interest to any space.

These three foot tall garden standing stones do not have flat bases and are intended to be dug or concreted into beds or rockeries to give height and form and to complement planting.

Slate Feature Stones

As a natural product, the appearance of slate feature stones varies; gorgeous streaks of gold run through the slate and the stones naturally darken when wet, creating a stylish black appearance. Slate feature stones are very heavy and require some form of mechanical lifting to move into place, and are available in medium, large and x-large sizes.

Stylish graphite grey Slate Feature Stones – Medium are used to create striking centrepieces and are ideal for any gravelled area or rockery. These exceptional slate feature stones come in a variety of shapes and sizes; some are cut and others are left in their natural state - all are beautiful to look at.

Slate Feature Stones - Large deliver large scale visual impact but take care when handling these big pieces of slate as they weigh up to half a tonne and can have sharp edges. You’ll need space to manoeuvre this into your garden or landscape without damaging nearby flowerbeds or paths.

For a real statement, and if you have space, graphite grey Slate Feature Stones – X-Large are the ideal choice for both traditional or modern garden designs. These beautiful slate chunks come straight from the quarry in Wales and boast a variety of textures, from naturally rough and craggy to smooth.

Slate Planters

Beautiful Slate Planters add a stylish finishing touch to any garden, doorstep or windowsill. 

These lovely pieces of slate are around 300-400mm and have the texture of rockery stone. They are drilled with a 4” hole which can be filled with a potted plant - the perfect way to add a splash of colour and texture to any decking area, patio or garden.

How much do slate monoliths, holloliths and feature stones weigh?

When you’re selecting a monolith size, consider the space you have available. As some of our monoliths are up to 1800mm high, their immense size means they can weigh up to 1.5 tonnes and would require a mechanical lift to move into place in addition to a strong base or sump.