Fountains Fell is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales

Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...

, England

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...

. The main summit has a height of 668 metres (2,192 ft) and a relative height or topographic prominence

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 243 metres (797 ft) and thus qualifies as a Marilyn

Marilyn (hill)

A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Isle of Man with a relative height of at least 150 metres , regardless of absolute height or other merit...

. Its subsidiary south top reaches 662 metres (2,172 ft) and qualifies as a Nuttall. A third summit, further south at , reaches 610 metres (2,001 ft) and is the most southerly 2,000 ft summit in the Pennines

Pennines

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...

.

The eastern slopes of the fell form part of 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...

's Malham Tarn and Moor estate.

History

The name Fountains derives from ownership of the land in the 13th century by the Cistercian monks of Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey is near to Aldfield, approximately two miles southwest of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. It is a ruined Cistercian monastery, founded in 1132. Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England. It is a Grade I listed building and owned by the...

 (25 miles (40 km) to the east, near Ripon

Ripon

Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...

), who used it for sheep grazing. Coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 was mined on the summit from 1790 to 1860, and was used for 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...

 smelting

Smelting

Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...

 in the area. There are various pits and shafts on and near the summit, and the remains of a coke oven

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 building.

Pennine Way

The Pennine Way

Pennine Way

The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and the Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes...

 crosses Fountains Fell about a third of a mile north of the summit. For the northbound walker this is 85 miles (137 km) from the start of the way at Edale

Edale

Edale is a small Derbyshire village and Civil parish in the Peak District, in the Midlands of England. The Parish of Edale,area ,is in the Borough of High Peak....

, and is the first point where the way climbs higher than Kinder Scout

Kinder Scout

Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at 636 m above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District, the highest point in Derbyshire, and the highest point in the East Midlands. It is accessible from the villages of...

's 636 metres (2,087 ft) which was reached soon after the start. It is 8 miles (13 km) along the Pennine Way from Malham

Malham

Malham is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Situated in the Yorkshire Dales with a population of approximately 150. The surrounding countryside is well known for its limestone pavements and other examples of limestone scenery...

 village to the summit of Fountains Fell, the route climbing up beside the dramatic cliffs of Malham Cove

Malham Cove

Malham Cove is a natural limestone formation 1 km north of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. A well-known beauty spot, it is a large, curved limestone cliff at the head of a valley, with a fine area of limestone pavement at the top....

 and passing Malham Tarn

Malham Tarn

-External links:****...

 before climbing up the east side of the fell. The route continues down the western slopes of the fell and ascends the southern ridge of Pen-y-ghent

Pen-y-ghent

Pen-y-ghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies some 3 km east of Horton in Ribblesdale...

, reached after 3.5 miles (6 km): this summit of 694 metres (2,277 ft) then supplants Fountains Fell as the highest point yet reached on the Pennine Way.

Caving

There are several caves of interest to cavers

Caving

Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...

 on Fountains Fell, including Antler Hole, Dalehead Pot, Echo Hole, Fornagh Gill, Gingling Pot, Hammer Pot and Magnetometer Pot.