Crag Hill
Encyclopedia
Crag Hill is a mountain
in the North Western part of the English
Lake District
. It was formerly known as Eel Crag; however, the Ordnance Survey
now marks Eel Crag as referring to the northern crag
s of the fell.
It is not to be confused with another Crag Hill
lying on the border of North Yorkshire.
It overlooks the valleys of Rannerdale on the west, and Coledale
on the east. It is the second highest fell in the area of high ground between the passes of Whinlatter
and Newlands
, second to Grasmoor
. It is 839 m (2,753 feet) high, and has a relative height
of 117 m.
occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. The central sector, rising between Whinlatter and Newlands passes, includes Crag Hill.
The highest ground in the North Western Fells is an east-west ridge in this central sector, beginning with Grasmoor above Crummock Water
and then gradually descending eastwards over Crag Hill, Sail
, Scar Crags
and Causey Pike
. Grasmoor has the greatest elevation, but Crag Hill stands at the hub of the range. In plan it appears as a cross with ridges running to the four points of the compass.
To the north of Crag Hill is the col
of Coledale Hause, the high level connection to Hopegill Head
, focal point of a parallel but slightly lower ridge. Valleys descend from either side of Coledale Hause, running between these two ridges. Gasgale Gill (or Liza Beck on OS
maps) flows westward to the River Cocker, while Coledale Beck runs eastwards to the Derwent. Guarding the way up from the Hause to Crag Hill is Eel Crag, the face which gave the fell its former name.
Crag Hill also has a southern ridge which steps down toward Buttermere
over Wandope
and Whiteless Pike
. The valley of Rannerdale forms the western boundary with Sail Beck on the other side. Both empty into Crummock Water.
The highest part of Crag Hill is near the 'cross' where the four ridges meet. Moving further east towards Sail, the ridge tapers down with crags on either side. Scott Crags stands over Coledale and Scar Crag (not to be confused with Scar Crags) looks down on Sail Beck. Beneath Scar Crag is Addacomb Hole, a deep corrie
without a tarn
. By contrast to the west of the summit the slopes are smooth and wide, although still steep.
Kirkstile Formation. This is the typical rock of the Skiddaw
fells and is composed of laminated mudstone
and siltstone
. Beneath this are the Greywacke
sandstone
turbities of the Loweswater Formation. The Causey Pike Fault runs across the southern flanks of the fell, beyond which are the rocks of the Buttermere Formation.
Although there is much evidence of mining activity in the surrounding fells, Crag Hill itself has remained untouched.
triangulation column
, set on a stony plateau. The view is excellent, although robbed of some foreground by the flat expanse of the top. All of the major fell groups can be seen with the Scafells
particularly fine. Although a higher neighbour, Grasmoor detracts little from the view to the west.
at the opposite end of the ridge, Coledale Hause is also the first objective. From here a simple ascent turns Eel Crag to the west, although Wainwright listed more interesting alternatives on the eastern side of the crag.
Many ascents of Crag Hill are made indirectly as part of a full traverse of the Grasmoor to Causey Pike ridge. Climbs from Buttermere via Whiteless Pike and Wandope are also practicable. Finally, rounds of either Coledale or Gasgale Gill, crossing to or from Hopegill Head via Coledale Hause, provide fine horseshoe walks for those needing to return to their starting point.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in the North Western part of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
. It was formerly known as Eel Crag; however, the Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
now marks Eel Crag as referring to the northern crag
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s of the fell.
It is not to be confused with another Crag Hill
Crag Hill (Yorkshire)
Crag Hill is on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England, not to be confused with the higher Crag Hill elsewhere in the county of Cumbria. It lies on the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales national park, but its summit is in Cumbria. It is part of a ridge including the neighbouring...
lying on the border of North Yorkshire.
It overlooks the valleys of Rannerdale on the west, and Coledale
Coledale (Cumbria)
In Cumbria, England, Coledale is a valley in the northwestern region of the Lake District ~-Geography:Coledale is a narrow V shaped river valley running approximately north-east towards the Derwent Valley floodplain and the village of Braithwaite at the northeastern end...
on the east. It is the second highest fell in the area of high ground between the passes of Whinlatter
Whinlatter Pass
The Whinlatter Pass is a mountain pass in the English Lake District. It is located on the B5292 road linking Braithwaite, to the west of Keswick, with High Lorton to the south of Cockermouth....
and Newlands
Newlands Pass
The Newlands Pass, also known as Newlands Hause, is a mountain pass in the English Lake District. It is located on an unclassified road linking the Newlands Valley, to the west of Keswick and Derwent Water, with the village of Buttermere...
, second to Grasmoor
Grasmoor
Grasmoor is a mountain in the north-western part of the Lake District, northern England. It is the highest peak in a group of hills between the villages of Lorton, Braithwaite and Buttermere, and overlooks Crummock Water....
. It is 839 m (2,753 feet) high, and has a relative height
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...
of 117 m.
Topography
The North Western FellsNorth Western Fells
The North Western Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Including such favourites as Catbells and Grisedale Pike, they occupy an oval area beneath the Buttermere and Borrowdale valley systems...
occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. The central sector, rising between Whinlatter and Newlands passes, includes Crag Hill.
The highest ground in the North Western Fells is an east-west ridge in this central sector, beginning with Grasmoor above Crummock Water
Crummock Water
Crummock Water is a lake in the Lake District in Cumbria, North West England situated between Buttermere to the south and Loweswater to the north. Crummock Water is two and a half miles long, three quarters of a mile wide and 140ft deep. The River Cocker is considered to start at the north of the...
and then gradually descending eastwards over Crag Hill, Sail
Sail (Lake District)
Sail is a hill in the English Lake District, lying between Derwentwater and Crummock Water.-Topography:The North Western Fells occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing...
, Scar Crags
Scar Crags
Scar Crags is a fell in the north western part of the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It is one of the Coledale group of fells situated seven kilometres south west of Keswick and reaches a height of 672 metres .-Topography:...
and Causey Pike
Causey Pike
Causey Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated in the Newlands Valley, 5 km south west of the town of Keswick. Even though it has a modest height of 637 metres it is one of the most distinctive fells when viewed from the Derwent Water and Keswick area due to its...
. Grasmoor has the greatest elevation, but Crag Hill stands at the hub of the range. In plan it appears as a cross with ridges running to the four points of the compass.
To the north of Crag Hill is the col
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
of Coledale Hause, the high level connection to Hopegill Head
Hopegill Head
Hopegill Head is a fell in the English Lake District in Cumbria. It is located nine kilometres west of the town of Keswick and is well seen from the B5292 road which crosses the Whinlatter Pass.-Topography:...
, focal point of a parallel but slightly lower ridge. Valleys descend from either side of Coledale Hause, running between these two ridges. Gasgale Gill (or Liza Beck on OS
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
maps) flows westward to the River Cocker, while Coledale Beck runs eastwards to the Derwent. Guarding the way up from the Hause to Crag Hill is Eel Crag, the face which gave the fell its former name.
Crag Hill also has a southern ridge which steps down toward Buttermere
Buttermere
Buttermere is a lake in the English Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. Historically within the former county of Cumberland, the lake is now within the county of Cumbria. It is owned by the National Trust, forming part of their...
over Wandope
Wandope
Wandope is a fell in the north-western area of the English Lake District. It lies to the east of Crummock Water and south of Crag Hill...
and Whiteless Pike
Whiteless Pike
Whiteless Pike is a fell in the north-western English Lake District. It stands immediately east of Crummock Water and forms a perfect pyramid shape when viewed from Rannerdale. In his celebrated guide to the Lakeland fells, Alfred Wainwright called it "the Weisshorn of Buttermere"...
. The valley of Rannerdale forms the western boundary with Sail Beck on the other side. Both empty into Crummock Water.
The highest part of Crag Hill is near the 'cross' where the four ridges meet. Moving further east towards Sail, the ridge tapers down with crags on either side. Scott Crags stands over Coledale and Scar Crag (not to be confused with Scar Crags) looks down on Sail Beck. Beneath Scar Crag is Addacomb Hole, a deep corrie
Cirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
without a tarn
Tarn (lake)
A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...
. By contrast to the west of the summit the slopes are smooth and wide, although still steep.
Geology and mining
The summit areas of Crag Hill are composed of the OrdovicianOrdovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
Kirkstile Formation. This is the typical rock of the Skiddaw
Skiddaw
Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. With a summit at 931 m above sea level it is the fourth highest mountain in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes...
fells and is composed of laminated mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
and siltstone
Siltstone
Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...
. Beneath this are the Greywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
turbities of the Loweswater Formation. The Causey Pike Fault runs across the southern flanks of the fell, beyond which are the rocks of the Buttermere Formation.
Although there is much evidence of mining activity in the surrounding fells, Crag Hill itself has remained untouched.
Summit and view
The summit bears an Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
triangulation column
Triangulation station
A triangulation station, also known as a triangulation pillar, trigonometrical station, trigonometrical point, trig station, trig beacon or trig point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity...
, set on a stony plateau. The view is excellent, although robbed of some foreground by the flat expanse of the top. All of the major fell groups can be seen with the Scafells
Scafells
Image:Annotated Scafell range.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Scafell range as seen looking west from Crinkle Crags. rect 23 372 252 419 Slight Side rect 173 794 560 834 Scafell East Buttress...
particularly fine. Although a higher neighbour, Grasmoor detracts little from the view to the west.
Ascents
From the shore of Crummock Water, Rannerdale Beck can be followed to its source, gaining the ridge between Crag Hill and Wandope. The alternative western route follows Gasgale Gill up to its birthplace on Coledale Hause. From Braithwaite near KeswickKeswick, Cumbria
Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
at the opposite end of the ridge, Coledale Hause is also the first objective. From here a simple ascent turns Eel Crag to the west, although Wainwright listed more interesting alternatives on the eastern side of the crag.
Many ascents of Crag Hill are made indirectly as part of a full traverse of the Grasmoor to Causey Pike ridge. Climbs from Buttermere via Whiteless Pike and Wandope are also practicable. Finally, rounds of either Coledale or Gasgale Gill, crossing to or from Hopegill Head via Coledale Hause, provide fine horseshoe walks for those needing to return to their starting point.