St Sunday Crag
Encyclopedia
St Sunday Crag is a fell
in the English
Lake District
, part of the Fairfield
group in the Eastern Fells
. It is a prominent feature in the Patterdale
skyline, with a distinctive rounded shape. Indeed it figures so finely in views from the upper reach of the lake that it is sometimes referred to as 'the Ullswater
Fell'.
and beyond this is the further satellite of Arnison Crag
.
The top of St Sunday Crag is triangular in plan with a third ridge running off due east. This crosses a depression (The Cape) before the lower top of Gavel Pike at 784 m (2,572 ft) is reached. From below this is a shapely pyramid worthy of the "pike" designation, although its subsidiarity is all too plain from above. Below Gavel Pike is the further top of Lord's Seat before the short east ridge falls away over rough ground to Deepdale.
It is the north western face above Grisedale that is St Sunday Crag's chief glory. The long graceful curve of the top is set above a wall of crag half a mile long, the whole face being neatly symmetrical. A series of vertical gullys slice through the crags, which together with the intervening ridges provide sport for scramblers and climbers. The crags peter out at about 550 m (1,800 ft), to be replaced by a steep scree slope falling to the valley floor, a further 250 m (800 ft) below. Fine views of this face can be had from Helvellyn
and Birkhouse Moor
across the valley.
To the south east of the fell is the valley of Deepdale, separating St Sunday Crag from Hart Crag
and Hartsop above How
. This face too is steep and rough, although without sustained outcropping of rock. Between Gavel Pike and Birks is Cold Cove, a hanging valley cut off by Deepdale. All of the becks from St Sunday Crag reach the head of Ullswater at Patterdale.
s sit upon the highest area, where rocks protrude through the turf. A further cairn at the northern end of the summit area marks the prime viewpoint for Ullswater. A quartz cross, now hard to find amid the bilberry, lies above the crags marking the top of East Chockstone Gully. The view takes much of the District, Striding Edge and the crags of Fairfield being particularly prominent. Gavel Pike provides good views of the head of Deepdale.
St Sunday Crag now finds itself on Alfred Wainwright
's popular Coast to Coast Walk, vastly increasing the traffic across the top.
, though it is not certain how this saint's name became attached to the 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...
, part of the Fairfield
Fairfield (Lake District)
Fairfield is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of a group of hills in the Eastern Fells, standing to the south of the Helvellyn range.-Topography:...
group in the Eastern Fells
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:...
. It is a prominent feature in the Patterdale
Patterdale
Patterdale is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, and the long valley in which they are found, also called the Ullswater Valley....
skyline, with a distinctive rounded shape. Indeed it figures so finely in views from the upper reach of the lake that it is sometimes referred to as 'the Ullswater
Ullswater
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being approximately nine miles long and 0.75 miles wide with a maximum depth of slightly more than ....
Fell'.
Topography
St Sunday Crag is the high point on the north eastern ridge of Fairfield, which runs for two miles before descending to the valley floor behind Patterdale village. From the flat Fairfield summit a rough slope descends over the subsidiary top of Cofa Pike to the col at Deepdale Hause at c680 m (2,200 ft). This is a narrow point on the ridge, deeply scarred by pedestrian traffic. The ground now rises again to St Sunday Crag, soaring above the dales on either side. Beyond the summit there is a swift drop to the lower plateau of BirksBirks (Lake District)
Birks is a fell in the English Lake District situated two kilometres south west of the village of Patterdale in the Eastern Fells. The fells summit sits on a shoulder of the north east ridge of the higher and better known fell of St Sunday Crag, by which it is dominated, walkers often pass over the...
and beyond this is the further satellite of Arnison Crag
Arnison Crag
Arnison Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It looks down on Patterdale village and the upper reach of Ullswater.-Topography:...
.
The top of St Sunday Crag is triangular in plan with a third ridge running off due east. This crosses a depression (The Cape) before the lower top of Gavel Pike at 784 m (2,572 ft) is reached. From below this is a shapely pyramid worthy of the "pike" designation, although its subsidiarity is all too plain from above. Below Gavel Pike is the further top of Lord's Seat before the short east ridge falls away over rough ground to Deepdale.
It is the north western face above Grisedale that is St Sunday Crag's chief glory. The long graceful curve of the top is set above a wall of crag half a mile long, the whole face being neatly symmetrical. A series of vertical gullys slice through the crags, which together with the intervening ridges provide sport for scramblers and climbers. The crags peter out at about 550 m (1,800 ft), to be replaced by a steep scree slope falling to the valley floor, a further 250 m (800 ft) below. Fine views of this face can be had from Helvellyn
Helvellyn
Helvellyn is a mountain in the English Lake District, the apex of the Eastern Fells. At above sea level, it is the third highest peak in both the Lake District and England...
and Birkhouse Moor
Birkhouse Moor
Birkhouse Moor is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells. It is properly an eastern ridge of Helvellyn, but was treated as a separate fell by Alfred Wainwright in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells...
across the valley.
To the south east of the fell is the valley of Deepdale, separating St Sunday Crag from Hart Crag
Hart Crag
Hart Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, being one of the Fairfield group of hills in the Eastern Fells.-Topography:The fell stands on the ridge running south east from Fairfield to Dove Crag, at the point where a long subsidiary spur sweeps off to the north east...
and Hartsop above How
Hartsop above How
Hartsop above How is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells. It stands above Brothers Water and the Ullswater to Ambleside road.-Topography:...
. This face too is steep and rough, although without sustained outcropping of rock. Between Gavel Pike and Birks is Cold Cove, a hanging valley cut off by Deepdale. All of the becks from St Sunday Crag reach the head of Ullswater at Patterdale.
Geology
Geologically the summit area is andesite, overlaying the St Sunday Crag Member, a 50m thick layer of rhyodactic lapilli-tuff which breaks the surface on the east ridge.Summit and view
Given the fine ridges to either side, the summit of St Sunday Crag is surprisingly level and green. Two cairnCairn
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 sit upon the highest area, where rocks protrude through the turf. A further cairn at the northern end of the summit area marks the prime viewpoint for Ullswater. A quartz cross, now hard to find amid the bilberry, lies above the crags marking the top of East Chockstone Gully. The view takes much of the District, Striding Edge and the crags of Fairfield being particularly prominent. Gavel Pike provides good views of the head of Deepdale.
Ascents
The main starting point for ascents is Patterdale, either by climbing or traversing Birks. Arnison Crag can also be thrown in for good measure and the north east ridge gives fantastic rearward views of Ullswater. A further Patterdale alternative is the Elmhow zig-zag which climbs the Grisedale face just north of the crags. Lord's Seat and the east ridge can be climbed from Deepdale, starting from the car park at Bridgend. St Sunday Crag can also be ascended from the east by making first for Grisedale Tarn. This puts the summit into reach from Grasmere or Dunmail Raise.St Sunday Crag now finds itself on 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...
's popular Coast to Coast Walk, vastly increasing the traffic across the top.
Name
Saint Sunday is a local name for Saint DominicSaint Dominic
Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
, though it is not certain how this saint's name became attached to the fell.