Grange Fell is a small fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 in 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...

 in the county of Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, situated in the Borrowdale

Borrowdale

Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England.Borrowdale lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland, and is sometimes referred to as Cumberland Borrowdale in order to distinguish it from another Borrowdale in the...

 valley overlooking the villages of Grange in Borrowdale

Grange in Borrowdale

Grange, often called Grange in Borrowdale, is a village in Borrowdale in the English Lake District. It lies just off the B5289 road to the south of Derwent Water and south of Keswick, in the county of Cumbria....

 and Rosthwaite

Rosthwaite, Borrowdale, Cumbria

Rosthwaite is a settlement in Borrowdale in the English Lake District. It lies on the B5289 road to the south of Derwent Water and to the east of the Honister Pass in the county of Cumbria....

.

Topography

The fell has a summit plateau which consist of many heather

Calluna

Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...

-covered hummocks, drystone walls and clumps of trees. Well-known Lake District writer Alfred Wainwright

Alfred Wainwright

Alfred Wainwright MBE was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the...

 credits Grange Fell as a single fell with three main summits, namely Brund Fell, King's How and Ether Knott. Brund Fell is the highest point of the fell at 415 metres (1,363 feet) while King's How is the best viewpoint and has an altitude of 392 metres (1,286 feet), the lesser known Ether Knott also has an approximate height of 415 metres (1,363 feet) and is less frequently visited by walkers. On the other hand, another Lakes walking expert Bill Birkett

Bill Birkett

Bill Birkett is one of the world's foremost mountain writers and photographers, and is a leading climber who has undertaken many expeditions around the world....

 lists Brund Fell and King's How as separate fells in his “Complete Lakeland Fells” volume, while Mark Richards includes all three.

There are also two small hills on the fringes of the fell, both unfrequented although they lie on access land. Shepherds Crag above the more famous rockface of that name, adjacent to the Lodore

Lodore

Lodore, also published under the title The Beautiful Widow, is the penultimate novel by Romantic novelist Mary Shelley, completed in 1833 and published in 1835.-Plot and themes:...

 Falls and Hotel, and Grange Crags above Grange.

History

Grange Fell is owned by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 and was one of its first acquisitions in the Lake District in 1910; the fell was purchased by public subscription as a memorial to King Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 at the bequest of the King’s sister Princess Louise

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

The Princess Louise was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the...

, who then was President of the Trust. The magnificent viewpoint of King's How was named after the King as a memorial, and a commemorative slate plaque is situated just below the summit. It reads:

“In Loving Memory of King Edward VII, Grange Fell is dedicated by his sister Louise as a sanctuary of rest and peace. Here may all beings gather strength, find in scenes of beautiful nature a cause for gratitude and love to God, giving them courage and vigour to carry on his will.”

Geology

The geology of the fell is complex with outcropping of various members of the Birker Fell Formation (andesite

Andesite

Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...

 lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

s), the Eagle Crag Member (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...

 and 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,...

 conglomerates), and intrusions of dolerite.

Ascents

Ascents of Grange Fell can be started from Rosthwaite, Grange in Borrowdale or Watendlath. The Rosthwaite to Watendlath bridleway can be utilised to its highest point before striking northerly to the summit of Brund Fell following a high dry stone wall for much of the way. The climb from Grange goes through the picturesque deciduous woodland at the foot of the fell and skirts round Greatend Crag before reaching King's How and is ranked as one of the loveliest short walks in the Lake District. The two principal summits of Brund Fell and King's How should both be climbed by any visitor to the fell and they are linked by an undulating path through the hillocks.

Summit and view

The main summit bears a number of rock tors, protruding sharply from the heathery plateau. King's How has a steep sided domed top. Both bear cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

s. The view from the top of the fell is quite beautiful: King's How gives a classic view of Derwentwater with 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...

in the background, while Borrowdale and the high fells round its head show well in the opposite direction.