Hill passes of the Lake District were originally used by people in one valley travelling to another nearby without having to go many miles around a steep ridge of intervening hills. Historically, in the
Lake District
The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
of northwest England, travel on foot or by pony was difficult because of the region's
steep-sided valleys so tracks across the ridges were created taking the easiest route over
pass
Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to:
Places
* Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland
* Pass, Poland, a village in Poland
* Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits
* Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...
es – often, but not always, via a
col. Since Roman times long-distance travel had tended to be along ridges. From the 19th century these passes and ridge routes were brought back into use when recreational hill walking become popular. Forty hill passes within the
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary.
The area was desi ...
are listed here, using criteria for selecting the major routes.
Background
The
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary.
The area was desi ...
was created in 1951 covering an area of over and, although its population is only 42,000, over 10 million visitors arrive each year, mostly attracted by the lakes and fells.
Geology
About 500 million years ago
in the late
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
and early
Ordivician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya.
...
periods, the region was situated where the
Iapetus
In Greek mythology, Iapetus (; ; grc, Ἰαπετός, Iapetós), also Japetus, is a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in other ...
ocean floor was being
subducted
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
under the
Avalonia
Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, southern Ireland, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Wester ...
plate. Sedimentary material became
metamorphosed
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
to the
Skiddaw slates found in the north and west. For a relatively short time of 5 million years Ordovician volcanoes ejected the
Borrowdale volcanic rocks – firstly
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
s (mostly
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...
} and later
pyroclastic
Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...
rocks found in the more central part of the region. The ejection of rock was extreme by world standards and it produced deposits at least deep. When the
Baltica
Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains.
The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, is mo ...
-
Avalonia
Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, southern Ireland, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Wester ...
and
Laurentia
Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although ...
continents collided some 420 million years ago in the
Caledonian orogeny
The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occ ...
there was
folding
Fold, folding or foldable may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure
* Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot
*Abov ...
of the slate and fracturing (
faulting
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
) of the more brittle volcanic rock. The whole region was then uplifted again by a
batholith
A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types, such ...
of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
mainly in the
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
period although the granite remains largely below the surface.
The high ground became gradually
eroded
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust, and then sediment transport, tra ...
and to the south the land subsided.
In the south of
Windermere Supergroup
The Windermere Supergroup is a geological unit formed during the Ordovician to Silurian periods ~, and exposed in northwest England, including the Pennines and correlates along its strike, in the Isle of Man and Ireland, and down-dip in the South ...
sediment formed in the
Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
period with
Coniston Limestone
The Dent Group is a group of Upper Ordovician sedimentary and volcanic rocks in north-west England. It is the lowermost part of the Windermere Supergroup, which was deposited in the foreland basin formed during the collision between Laurentia and ...
towards its base. Overall cover of limestone eroded away.
In the north, slaty rocks now form a smooth topography with sharp ridges although the hills can still be quite high – in the case of
Skiddaw
Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. Its summit is the sixth-highest in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes. It is the ...
. Centrally the pyroclastic
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
rocks
give a knobbly terrain such as that around
Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike () is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif.
Scafell Pi ...
, , England's highest mountain. To the south is a mostly less hilly area.
Glaciation
From about 2 million years ago glacial erosion then
greatly modified the landscape.
Glaciers formed preferentially at existing streams which had developed at the many rock faults produced by crushing during the continental collision. The terrain was ground away leaving characteristically steep-sided glacial valleys which became
ribbon lake
A ribbon lake is a long and deep, finger-shaped lake, usually found in a glacial trough. As such, a ribbon lake is one of a number of glacial landscapes, including arêtes, corries, rock lips, rock basins and terminal moraines.
Such a lake's ...
s.
On the Rossett Pass (see below) Rossett Gill is an example of a geological fault and the glacier that descended from it created the Mickleden and
Great Langdale
Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in North West England, the epithet Great distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale. Langdale is also the name of a valley in the Howgill Fells, elsewhere i ...
valleys below. Taken as a whole the region is characterised by mountain ridges splaying out from a central core. The intervening valleys have been made by glaciers flowing outward along the lines of the previous streams draining the dome of the Lake District.
Human history
Historically the region was suitable for sheep
hill farming
Hill farming or terrace farming is an extensive farming in upland areas, primarily rearing sheep, although historically cattle were often reared extensively in upland areas. Fell farming is the farming of fells, a fell being an area of unculti ...
and from medieval (or possibly
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
) times there was a substantial
mining industry
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
for rocks and minerals.
The Romans had built a high-level military road north–south right through the region on its eastern edge at
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
and another road through the
Hardknott and
Wrynose passes for travel between forts at
Ravenglass
Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland District in Cumbria, England. It is between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Historically in Cumberland, it is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. It is located at the es ...
and
Ambleside
Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, Cumbria, Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern ...
.
Travelling between valleys was difficult on foot or by pony because of the steep passes across the mountainous ridges. With no roads suitable for wheeled traffic until the late 18th century, for long-distance transport of goods long trains of horses were used with ridge routes being preferred although
Esk Hause
Esk Hause is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, England. It is where the paths from Eskdale, Borrowdale, Langdale and Wasdale all meet. Esk Hause is a first step to reaching higher summits, such as Scafell Pike, Great End, Esk Pike an ...
and Stake Pass (see below) are thought to have been used in this way. However, for travel within the region, routes were best kept as low as possible consistent with avoiding excessive detours so summits and ridges were to be avoided as far as possible.
In the late 18th century the region started to become popular with travellers and the "
Lake Poets
The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England, United Kingdom, in the first half of the nineteenth century. As a group, they followed no single "school" of thought or literary practice then known. They ...
" began seeing the lakes and mountains as beautiful rather than horrifying. In
Victorian times
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
, encouraged by the arrival of the
Kendal and Windermere Railway
The Kendal and Windermere Railway built a branch line from the main line to Kendal and on to Windermere, in Cumbria in north-west England. It was promoted by local interests in Kendal when it became clear that the Lancaster and Carlisle Railw ...
,
a tourist trade developed. In the mid twentieth century
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', published ...
inadvertently encouraged further recreational use with his series of books ''
A 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 (the local word for hills and mountains) of the Lake District in northwest England. Written over a period of 13 years from 1952, they ...
'' which described detailed routes to the major summits. His considerable knowledge of the district allowed him to make use of the ancient tracks although his focus was not on the ridge passes themselves.
Hill passes
The passes are indicated in the following maps that are identical except for the annotation included. Both show the regions defined by Wainwright for his books. The first map shows the passes with their sequential numbers in the table. It also marks major lakes, valleys (dales) and a few important mountains. The second map shows the passes with their names (or a col on the route) and a few major towns. The colouring of the routes is merely to separate different adjacent ones.
File:Lake District-pass numbers,fells,lakes.svg, Showing pass numbers, lakes, valleys and mountains
File:Lake District-pass names,towns.svg, Showing names of passes and towns
Notes for table header
Selection criteria
The hill passes listed are routes within the
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary.
The area was desi ...
between two different valleys where a pathway is marked on the
Ordnance Survey
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg
, logo_width = 240px
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, picture_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, di ...
1:50000 or 1:25000 map. Passes to be considered may be listed as "
pass
Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to:
Places
* Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland
* Pass, Poland, a village in Poland
* Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits
* Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...
" or "
hause" in the Ordnance Survey 1:50000 gazetteer provided also that a route crossing the ridge is marked on the map.
[ This product is still available to download although it has been officially "withdrawn".] Also included are routes described as passes in Wainwright's Guides and in other authoritative sources provided still that they go between different valleys. To be listed a pass does not necessarily have a name (though most do have names) nor does it need to cross a
col (but nearly all do traverse cols). A few have been excluded when the gain in elevation seems rather small (less than about – this particularly applies with paved roads.
Notes
References
Citations
Volumes in Wainwright's ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells''
The following individual volumes are part of a boxed set:
*
[(same content as first 1955 edition)]
[(same content as first 1957 edition)]
[(same content as first 1958 edition)]
[(same content as first 1960 edition)]
[(same content as first 1962 edition)]
[(same content as first 1964 edition)]
[(same content as first 1966 edition)]
*(same content as first 1968 edition)
Other works cited
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake District
List of hill passes of the Lake District
Hill passes
Hill passes