Thunacar Knott is a 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 central part of 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...

.

Topography

The main spine of the Central Fells

Central Fells

The Central Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Raise , they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. Perhaps unexpectedly the Central Fells are generally lower than the surrounding hills, the Lake District's general dome-like...

 runs south from Bleaberry Fell

Bleaberry Fell

Bleaberry Fell is a fell in the Lake District in Cumbria, England, with a height of 590 metres . It stands on the main watershed between Borrowdale and Thirlmere and can be climbed from either flank...

 to High Raise

High Raise (Langdale)

High Raise is a fell in the Central Fells of the English Lake District not to be confused with another High Raise situated in the Far Eastern Fells...

, before turning sharply east en route for Blea Rigg

Blea Rigg

Blea Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, lying between the valleys of Easedale and Great Langdale. One of the Central Fells, it is a broad plateau with a succession of rocky tops...

 and Loughrigg Fell

Loughrigg Fell

Loughrigg Fell is a hill in the central part of the English Lake District. It stands on the end of the long ridge coming down from High Raise over Silver How towards Ambleside, and is separated from its neighbours by the depression of Red Bank....

. A secondary ridge projects southward from High Raise, terminating in the Langdale Pikes. These are a high rocky parapet looking down upon the valley of Great Langdale, fringing an area of moorland behind. This upland plateau has its highpoint in Thunacar Knott.

Recent surveys give the fell a height of 723 metres (2,372 feet), a significant increase to the 2,351 feet given 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 Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. The fell is situated in Great Langdale

Great Langdale

Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in the county of Cumbria, in the northwest of England. It is often simply referred to as Langdale, the epithet Great distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale....

 in the midst of one of the most popular areas for walking in the district, it is surrounded by the much-loved Langdale fells of Harrison Stickle

Harrison Stickle

Harrison Stickle is a fell in the central part of the English Lake District, situated above Great Langdale. The fell is one of the three fells which make up the picturesque Langdale Pikes, the others being Pike of Stickle and Loft Crag. Together they make up one of the most picturesque, and...

, Pike of Stickle

Pike of Stickle

Pike of Stickle, also known as Pike O’ Stickle, is a fell in the English Lake District. It reaches a height of 709 metres and is situated in the central part of the national park in the valley of Great Langdale...

, Loft Crag

Loft Crag

Loft Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, it is situated 9 kilometres west of Ambleside in the valley of Great Langdale and along with the neighbouring fells of Harrison Stickle and Pike of Stickle it forms the picturesque Langdale Pikes which when viewed from the area around...

 and Pavey Ark

Pavey Ark

Pavey Ark is a fell in the English county of Cumbria. It is one of the Langdale Pikes, lying to the north of Great Langdale, in the heart of the Lake District, immediately to the north-east of Harrison Stickle.-Topography:...

. Despite this, Thunacar Knott is often by-passed by walkers because of its uninspiring appearance, being just a slight rise on the moorland between Harrison Stickle and High Raise

High Raise (Langdale)

High Raise is a fell in the Central Fells of the English Lake District not to be confused with another High Raise situated in the Far Eastern Fells...

. Indeed, many people do not regard it as a separate fell, considering it just the outlying highest point of the spectacular Pavey Ark cliffs. Wainwright’s comments on the fell are not positive, saying: “Thunacar Knott is completely unphotogenic … this uninspiring characteristic extends to the whole fell, which is quite deficient in interest”.

Geology

Drift deposits cover most of the fell, but in the summit area there are outcrops of the underlying Seathwaite Fell Formation. This consists of volcaniclastic 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,...

 with interbeds of tuff

Tuff

Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...

, lapilli

Lapilli

Lapilli is a size classification term for tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. Lapilli means "little stones" in Latin. They are in some senses similar to ooids or pisoids in calcareous sediments.By definition lapilli range...

-tuff and conglomerate.

Ascents

Many walkers feel compelled to climb Thunacar Knott in order to complete their list of “Wainwright” fells and they usually do this while climbing the more popular neighbouring fells, the usual starting point is the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Great Langdale and goes via Stickle Ghyll, Stickle Tarn and Pavey Ark. Thunacar Knott can also be climbed from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale, via Langstrath and the Stake Pass.

Summit and view

The summit of the fell has a small tarn

Tarn (lake)

A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...

 and two tops, with the southern top being the highest point while the northern top has the more significant 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...

and is often regarded as the true summit. Even though Thunacar Knott is quite insignificant it is slightly higher than all the surrounding area and gives good all round views with the prospect to the west being especially fine.