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Barf (Lake District)
Encyclopedia
Barf is a fell
in the north-western
Lake District
in Cumbria
, UK
. It stands on the south-western shore of Bassenthwaite Lake
. Barf is well known for a whitewashed pillar of rock on the lower slopes, the so-called "Bishop's Rock" or "Bishop of Barf".
, but was accorded the status of a separate fell by Alfred Wainwright
in his influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
. The eastern face is a steep wall of scree
, falling to the Keswick
to Cockermouth
road and the lakeshore.
The southern boundary of the fell is Beckstones Gill, falling over a series of small waterfalls from near the summit of Lord's Seat. At the base of the slope it flows past the Swan Hotel and into the head of the lake. To the south of BARF the beck are Ullister Hill and Seat How, satellites of Lord's Seat which Wainwright chose to leave within the bounds of the parent fell.
To the north of Barf is an unnamed stream falling to the lakeshore at Woodend, beyond which the land slowly falls away to Beck Wythop. To the north and south of the BARF fell's borders the slopes are forested with conifers, but Barf itself remains bare barring a belt of deciduous woodland at the very bottom.
The eastern face begins with several hundred feet of shifting scree, giving way to rough and loose crags higher up; Slape Crag is the main face. The whole slope falls some 900 ft in a quarter of a mile.
The connection to Lord's Seat is via a broad heather-clad depression to the west of the summit, easy walking being possible although there are some boggy patches.
On a rocky site at 700 ft and clearly visible from the Cockermouth to Keswick road, is the "Bishop of Barf", a white painted stone marking the spot where, according to local legend, the Bishop
of Derry
was killed falling from his horse in 1783, after drunkenly betting he could ride up the hill. Both the Bishop and his horse are said to be buried near a smaller stone, the Clerk, at the base of the hill. The stone was whitewashed each year by staff at the nearby Swan Hotel, until the Hotel was converted to apartments. The whitewashing is now carried out by members of Keswick Mountain Rescue.
The Bishop did briefly enjoy a splash of colour as the result of some cheeky chappies' escapades, though the new look was to be short lived as they were sent back up to re-paint it.
The Bishop stands about 7 ft high on the shortest side, while the Clerk is a much smaller conical stone.
rocks. This is composed of Greywacke
sandstone
turbidities. The lower eastern slopes show outcropping of the Kirkstile Formation, the typical rock of the Skiddaw
group.
There is evidence of historic mining activity on the north bank of Beckstones Gill, below the east face and also near Woodend. Small amounts of lead
and zinc
were raised between 1532 and 1891, the principal ores being blende
, cerussite
and galena
.
and Longside Edge is excellent, with Bassenthwaite Lake in the foreground. A selection of the Eastern
and Southern Fells
can also be seen. Lord's Seat blocks much of the panorama westward although the sea makes an appearance.
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 north-western
North 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...
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 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...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It stands on the south-western shore of Bassenthwaite Lake
Bassenthwaite Lake
Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about ....
. Barf is well known for a whitewashed pillar of rock on the lower slopes, the so-called "Bishop's Rock" or "Bishop of Barf".
Topography
Barf is properly an eastern shoulder of Lord's SeatLord's Seat
Lord's Seat is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of the group of hills north of Whinlatter Pass in the North Western Fells. The slopes of Lord's Seat are extensively forested.-Topography:...
, but was accorded the status of a separate fell by 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...
in his influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells of the Lake District in northwest England...
. The eastern face is a steep wall of scree
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
, falling to the Keswick
Keswick, 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...
to Cockermouth
Cockermouth
-History:The Romans created a fort at Derventio, now the adjoining village of Papcastle, to protect the river crossing, which had become located on a major route for troops heading towards Hadrian's Wall....
road and the lakeshore.
The southern boundary of the fell is Beckstones Gill, falling over a series of small waterfalls from near the summit of Lord's Seat. At the base of the slope it flows past the Swan Hotel and into the head of the lake. To the south of BARF the beck are Ullister Hill and Seat How, satellites of Lord's Seat which Wainwright chose to leave within the bounds of the parent fell.
To the north of Barf is an unnamed stream falling to the lakeshore at Woodend, beyond which the land slowly falls away to Beck Wythop. To the north and south of the BARF fell's borders the slopes are forested with conifers, but Barf itself remains bare barring a belt of deciduous woodland at the very bottom.
The eastern face begins with several hundred feet of shifting scree, giving way to rough and loose crags higher up; Slape Crag is the main face. The whole slope falls some 900 ft in a quarter of a mile.
The connection to Lord's Seat is via a broad heather-clad depression to the west of the summit, easy walking being possible although there are some boggy patches.
The Bishop of Barf
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
was killed falling from his horse in 1783, after drunkenly betting he could ride up the hill. Both the Bishop and his horse are said to be buried near a smaller stone, the Clerk, at the base of the hill. The stone was whitewashed each year by staff at the nearby Swan Hotel, until the Hotel was converted to apartments. The whitewashing is now carried out by members of Keswick Mountain Rescue.
The Bishop did briefly enjoy a splash of colour as the result of some cheeky chappies' escapades, though the new look was to be short lived as they were sent back up to re-paint it.
The Bishop stands about 7 ft high on the shortest side, while the Clerk is a much smaller conical stone.
Geology and mining
Barf is a part of the Loweswater Formation of 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...
rocks. This is composed of 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,...
turbidities. The lower eastern slopes show outcropping of the Kirkstile Formation, 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...
group.
There is evidence of historic mining activity on the north bank of Beckstones Gill, below the east face and also near Woodend. Small amounts of lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
were raised between 1532 and 1891, the principal ores being blende
Blende
Blende may refer to:* Sphalerite , the most common usage* Hornblende* Pitchblende* an alternative name for Rana Niejta...
, cerussite
Cerussite
Cerussite is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate , and an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin cerussa, white lead. Cerussa nativa was mentioned by Conrad Gessner in 1565, and in 1832 F. S. Beudant applied the name cruse to the mineral, whilst the present form, cerussite, is due to...
and galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
.
Summit and view
The summit is a small platform with a thin covering of grass, only a little way back from the eastern slope. The view eastward to SkiddawSkiddaw
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...
and Longside Edge is excellent, with Bassenthwaite Lake in the foreground. A selection of the Eastern
Eastern Fells
The Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Centred on Helvellyn they primarily comprise a north south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley.-Partition of the Lakeland Fells:...
and Southern Fells
Southern Fells
Image:Annotated Scafell range.jpg|thumb|300px|The Scafellsrect 23 372 252 419 Slight Side rect 173 794 560 834 Scafell East Buttressrect 707 787 893 861 Esk Pike or Crag rect 245 303 409 358 Sca Fell rect 408 238 637 280 Mickledore Image:Annotated Scafell range.jpg|thumb|300px|The Scafellsrect 23...
can also be seen. Lord's Seat blocks much of the panorama westward although the sea makes an appearance.
Ascents
The direct assault via the Bishop is described by Wainwright as "Not a walk. A very stiff scramble, suitable only for people overflowing with animal strength and vigour.". A line further to the south following Beckstones Gill is perhaps to be preferred. Barf can easily be gained indirectly, having first ascended Lord's Seat.External links
- WALK a041 - Barf (via the Bishop) and Lords Seat, Lake District Walking in Britain itinerary
- Why is a rock near Keswick painted white?