Caw Fell is a

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

in the English Lake District, standing between Haycock the

Lank Rigg Lank Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands to the south of Ennerdale in the Western Fells. A sprawling hill with gentle grassy slopes it can be climbed from various points on the Coldfell road. It carries various remains from ...

group. It occupies a wide upland area with Ennerdale to the north and Blengdale to the south. Caw Fell is distant from any point of access by Lakeland standards, but can be climbed from Blengdale or Bowness Knott car-parks.

Topography

The Western Fells occupy a triangular sector of the Lake District, bordered by the River Cocker to the north east and

Wasdale Wasdale () is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastw ...

to the south east. Westwards the hills diminish toward the coastal plain of Cumberland. At the central hub of the high country are

Great Gable Great Gable is a mountain in the Lake District, United Kingdom. It is named after its appearance as a pyramid from Wasdale, though it is dome-shaped from most other directions. It is one of the most popular of the Lakeland fells, and there are ...

and its satellites, while two principal ridges fan out on either flank of Ennerdale, the western fells in effect being a great horseshoe around this long wild valley.

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'', publis ...

: ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Volume 7 The Western Fells'': Westmorland Gazette (1966): Caw Fell stands on the southern arm. The main watershed runs broadly westwards from Great Gable, dividing the headwaters of Ennerdale and

. The main fells in this section are

Kirk Fell Kirk Fell is a fell in the Western part of the English Lake District. It is situated between Great Gable and Pillar on the long ring of fells surrounding the valley of Ennerdale, and also stands over Wasdale to the south. However, it is sepa ...

Pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

Scoat Fell Scoat Fell is a fell in the western part of the English Lake District. It stands at the head of the Mosedale Horseshoe with its back to Ennerdale. Paths lead to Scoat Fell from Ennerdale over Steeple, from Wasdale over Red Pike, and alon ...

, Haycock and Caw Fell. The surrounding valleys gradually diverge until at Caw Fell they are 6 miles apart and other rivers spring up to drain the intervening country. The Bleng rises to the south of Caw Fell, while Worm Gill drains the western slopes. The fell is therefore the end of the westerly run of the ridge, and the watershed curves north around the head of Worm Gill, crossing the subsidiary top of Iron Crag on the transit to

Crag Fell Crag Fell is a hill in the English Lake District. It is part of the Lank Rigg group, standing above Ennerdale Water in the Western Fells. The craggy northern face above the lake gives the fell its name, prominent in views from the car park at Bo ...

and

. The unnamed col connecting Caw Fell to Haycock is flat topped and carries the Ennerdale Fence, in this section a substantial dry stone wall. Tongue Gill, the principal headwater of the Bleng, flows from the southern side of the saddle while on the opposite side is the steep headwall of Silver Cove, a deeply enclosed side-valley running into Ennerdale. The heathery spur of Tongue End runs parallel to the east. West of the summit a broad ridge descends steeply to Worm Gill, a craggy bowl scooped out on the northern side above the tributary of Bleaberry Gill. Running due north between this corrie and Silver Cove is the ridge of Iron Crag, making the whole summit area resemble an inverted 'T' in plan. A narrow and steep sided col at 1,575 ft provides Iron Crag with considerably more

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

than its parent, a small tarn lying on the northern slope. The rock face giving Iron Crag its name overlooks Silver Cove, but is not particularly prominent. From this top the ridge swings west again, the rough northern flanks running above the shore of

Ennerdale Water Ennerdale Water is the most westerly lake in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is a glacial lake, with a maximum depth of 150 feet (45 metres), and is ½ mile to a mile (700 to 1,500 metres) wide and 2½ miles (3.9 kilo ...

. The main features here are Mart Knott, Stair Knott and Boat How. The ridge now meets the headwaters of the River Calder and divides to embrace the valley, Crag Fell to the north and Lank Rigg to the south. Caw Fell also has a lower level south west ridge, running down between the River Bleng and Worm Gill. This descends first to Stockdale Moor, a site littered with

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

hut circle In archaeology, a hut circle is a circular or oval depression in the ground which may or may not have a low stone wall around it that used to be the foundation of a round house. The superstructure of such a house would have been made of timber an ...

s, enclosures and other remnants of ancient habitation. Beyond are the low hills centred on Ponsonby Fell (1,033 ft), not included by

in his influential ''

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 ...

'', but covered by other guidebooks.Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': Collins Willow (1994):

Geology

The north eastern flanks are overlain by drift deposits with the

plagioclase Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more pro ...

-phyric

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 predo ...

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 of the Birker Fell Formation beneath. The rest of the fell exhibits rock of the Ennerdale Intrusion, granophyric

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 under ...

.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999) Iron Crag Mine operated below the crag of that name from around 1864 to 1896. 500 tons of haematite ore was raised in 1881, but the mine never proved a commercial success. Other smaller operations ran briefly in Silver Cove and Deep Gill.Adams, John: ''Mines of the Lake District Fells'': Dalesman (1995)

Summit

The top stands to the north of the wall, marked by a cairn. Caw Fell is remote from higher fells and gives an all round panorama of the Western Fells and the Scafells. It is necessary to cross the wall to take in the full view.

Ascents

The south west ridge over Stockdale Moor can be followed from the car park at Bleng Bridge, this being over five miles each way. From Bowness Knott in Ennerdale, Caw Fell can be reached in a similar distance via the Tongue End spur. Indirect ascents can be made via Grike and Crag Fell from the Kinniside Stone Circle.

Gallery

Image:Caw Fell from Iron Crag.jpg , Caw Fell from Iron Crag

References

{{Western Fells Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls Borough of Copeland