Carrock Fell
Encyclopedia
Carrock Fell is a fell
in the English Lake District
, situated in the northern region
of the national park 13 kilometres north east of Keswick
. The fell's name means "Rocky Fell" and comes from a combination of the Old Welsh language
with the word "carrec" meaning rock and the Old Norse
language with fjall meaning fell.
now give it a height of 661 m (2,168 ft) in the most recent map updates after having recorded it at 663 metres for many years. Many guidebooks and mountain tables still record 663 metres as the “official” height.
rated Carrock Fell as the second most exciting and interesting fell in the northern area of Lakeland (after Blencathra
and before Skiddaw
), it has special appeal regarding geology, mining and history and its rocky nature makes it stand out from the neighbouring fells which are mainly grassy and smooth. Carrock Fell is bounded to the south and east by the River Caldew
into which all drainage from the fell goes to find its way eventually to the Solway Firth
.
, a rough igneous rock that also makes up the famous Black Cuillin
on the Isle of Skye. Gabbro is an excellent “clean” rock for climbers
and Carrock Fell offers the only rock climbing of quality in the northern fells, the majority of which are made up of the unsuitable crumbly Skiddaw Slate
. The fell is rich in mineral ores and has been mined extensively for many centuries with tungsten
, lead
, arsenic
and iron
all being extracted from the fell. The most famous mine on the fell was the Carrock Mine, the only source of Tungsten in Britain outside of Devon
and Cornwall
. The mine was situated in Grainsgill Beck on the south western flanks of the fell with the main adit at a height of 340 metres. The mine was opened in 1854 but has only been worked in periods when the price of Tungsten has been high, for example during war time, the mine was worked extensively during both World Wars
and the Korean War
when supplies of Tungsten were threatened. The mine closed in the early 1980s and in 1988 the site was bulldozed and landscaped to its original outline.
hill fort
which crowns the summit. Only the foundations of the walls remain. The fort is oval shaped and is believed to have been built by the Celt
s and destroyed by the Romans
in their conquest of northern England. Carrock Fell's other claim to historical fame is that it was climbed by well known British novelists Charles Dickens
and Wilkie Collins
in 1857 during a tour of northern Cumberland
. Dickens had read about the fell and had made up his mind to climb it.
Collins sprained his ankle and Dickens had to help him back down the mountain, according to The New Yorker 7/25/11 in an article by Jonathan Rosen. (Collins wrote the first English language detective novel, The Moonstone.)
across the Eden
valley. Carrock Fell has two subsidiary summits, Round Knott (603 metres) and Milton Hill (607 metres) which lie to the west of the main summit on the ridge which continues to the adjoining fell of High Pike
.
Computer-generated summit panorama
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 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...
, situated in the northern region
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Including Skiddaw, they occupy a wide area to the north of Keswick. Smooth sweeping slopes predominate with a minimum of tarns or crags...
of the national park 13 kilometres north east of 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...
. The fell's name means "Rocky Fell" and comes from a combination of the Old Welsh language
Old Welsh language
Old Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from the British language around 550, has been called "Primitive Welsh".Many poems and some prose...
with the word "carrec" meaning rock and the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
language with fjall meaning fell.
Height
The fell's altitude seems to have reduced by two metres in recent years, the 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...
now give it a height of 661 m (2,168 ft) in the most recent map updates after having recorded it at 663 metres for many years. Many guidebooks and mountain tables still record 663 metres as the “official” height.
Topography
Well known Lake District scribe Alfred WainwrightAlfred 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...
rated Carrock Fell as the second most exciting and interesting fell in the northern area of Lakeland (after Blencathra
Blencathra
Blencathra, also known as Saddleback, is one of the most northerly mountains in the English Lake District. It has six separate fell tops, of which the highest is the Hallsfell Top.-Name:...
and before 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...
), it has special appeal regarding geology, mining and history and its rocky nature makes it stand out from the neighbouring fells which are mainly grassy and smooth. Carrock Fell is bounded to the south and east by the River Caldew
River Caldew
The River Caldew is a river running through Cumbria in England. Historically, the county watered by the Caldew was Cumberland.The Caldew's source is high up on Skiddaw, between the summit and Sale How, in the Lake District, from where it runs east through a valley between Bowscale Fell and Carrock...
into which all drainage from the fell goes to find its way eventually to the Solway Firth
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...
.
Geology and Mining
Carrock Fell’s geology is unique in the Lake District in that it is predominantly composed of GabbroGabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
, a rough igneous rock that also makes up the famous Black Cuillin
Cuillin
This article is about the Cuillin of Skye. See Rùm for the Cuillin of Rùm.The Cuillin are a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The true Cuillin are also known as the Black Cuillin to distinguish them from the Red Hills across Glen Sligachan...
on the Isle of Skye. Gabbro is an excellent “clean” rock for climbers
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
and Carrock Fell offers the only rock climbing of quality in the northern fells, the majority of which are made up of the unsuitable crumbly Skiddaw Slate
Skiddaw Slate
Skiddaw slate is an early Ordovician metamorphosed sedimentary rock, as first identified on the slopes of Skiddaw in the English Lake District....
. The fell is rich in mineral ores and has been mined extensively for many centuries with tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
, 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...
, arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
and iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
all being extracted from the fell. The most famous mine on the fell was the Carrock Mine, the only source of Tungsten in Britain outside of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. The mine was situated in Grainsgill Beck on the south western flanks of the fell with the main adit at a height of 340 metres. The mine was opened in 1854 but has only been worked in periods when the price of Tungsten has been high, for example during war time, the mine was worked extensively during both World Wars
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
when supplies of Tungsten were threatened. The mine closed in the early 1980s and in 1988 the site was bulldozed and landscaped to its original outline.
History
Carrock Fell is also the site of an Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
which crowns the summit. Only the foundations of the walls remain. The fort is oval shaped and is believed to have been built by the Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
s and destroyed by the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in their conquest of northern England. Carrock Fell's other claim to historical fame is that it was climbed by well known British novelists Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
in 1857 during a tour of northern Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
. Dickens had read about the fell and had made up his mind to climb it.
Collins sprained his ankle and Dickens had to help him back down the mountain, according to The New Yorker 7/25/11 in an article by Jonathan Rosen. (Collins wrote the first English language detective novel, The Moonstone.)
Ascents
Despite all its other attractions Carrock Fell is primarily the haunt of the fell walker, it is mostly climbed from the surfaced road which goes to the site of the Carrock Mine it is possible to leave a car at and then climb the fell by the steep south-west slopes. Carrock Fell can also be climbed from the road between Mungrisedale and Hesket Newmarket threading a way through the craggy and bouldery eastern slopes known as "Apronful of Stones".Summit and View
The top of the fell offers a good view to the east towards the PenninesPennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
across the Eden
River Eden, Cumbria
The River Eden is a river that flows through Cumbria, England on its way to the Solway Firth.-Course of river:The Eden rises in Black Fell Moss, Mallerstang, on the high ground between High Seat, Yorkshire Dales and Hugh Seat. Here it forms the boundary between the counties of Cumbria and North...
valley. Carrock Fell has two subsidiary summits, Round Knott (603 metres) and Milton Hill (607 metres) which lie to the west of the main summit on the ridge which continues to the adjoining fell of High Pike
High Pike (Caldbeck)
High Pike is a fell in the northern part of the English Lake District, it is located 4.5 kilometres south of Caldbeck. It has a height of 658 metres and is the most northerly of the Lakeland fells over 2000 feet. It is a large fell with its northern slopes falling away towards the lower ground...
.
Computer-generated summit panorama
