| Author | Monica Edwards |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Joan Wanklyn |
| Cover artist | Joan Wanklyn |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young-adult fiction |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Published | 1952 |
| Preceded by | Punchbowl Midnight |
| Followed by | The Wanderer |
Spirit of Punchbowl Farm is the third book in the Punchbowl Farm series of novels by Monica Edwards, published in 1952 by Collins. The book was illustrated by Joan Wanklyn. The story centres on the farm’s triple-trunked yew tree which Lindsey loves and believes to hold the spirit of the farm. Dion, however, sees it only as a threat to the farm’s livestock for its leaves are poisonous to cattle. Eventually Dion and Lindsey are given a vision of why it was planted in the first place.
In chapter fourteen "Accident in Time" one of the characters mentions a book by "a fellow called Dunne" when talking about the supernatural "time-slip" elements of the story. This was John William Dunne whose book An Experiment with Time Monica Edwards was obviously familiar with.
It is a fine yew tree that for many hundreds of years has protected Punchbowl Farm from gales and storms. Lindsey loves it and feels certain that it holds the spirit which guards their home and that to destroy it would be wrong and might cause some dreadful disaster. But Dion, who has taken the many problems of running the farm on his practical young shoulders, knows only that its poisonous branches are a constant menace to his herd and even to their beloved ponies. They cannot afford to have the tree fenced and so, he says, it must come down. But Lindsey is determined that some other solution must be found; that somehow the yew must be preserved yet the cattle protected. It seems that they will never understand each other's point of view, until they are linked together by strange and enthralling experiences which reveal to them the past history of the tree, and, in sympathy at last, they see what must be done.