This is a list of Marilyn hills and mountains in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
by height.
Marilyns are defined as peaks with a
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 ...
of or more, regardless of height or any other merit (e.g.
topographic isolation
The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mounta ...
, as used in
Munros).
Thus, Marilyns can be mountains, with a height above , or relatively small hills. there were 2,011 recorded Marilyns.
Definition
The Marilyn classification was created by Alan Dawson in his 1992 book ''The Relative Hills of Britain''. The name Marilyn was coined by Dawson as a punning contrast to the ''
Munro
A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nev ...
'' classification of Scottish mountains above , but which has no explicit prominence threshold, being
homophonous
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...
with (Marilyn) ''
Monroe''.
The list of Marilyns was extended to Ireland by Clem Clements.
Marilyn was the first of several subsequent British Isles classifications that rely solely on prominence, including the
P600s,
the
HuMPs, and the
TuMPs.
Topographic prominence is a more difficult to estimate than topographic elevation, requiring surveys of each contour line around a peak, and therefore lists using prominence are subject to revision.
Although many of the islands' largest mountains, including
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis ( ; gd, Beinn Nibheis ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. The summit is above sea level and is the highest land in any direction for . Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian ...
,
Carrantuohill,
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 P ...
and
Snowdon, are Marilyns, many other large peaks such as
Cairn Gorm
Cairn Gorm ( gd, An Càrn Gorm) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. With a summit elevation of above sea level, Cairn Gorm is classed as a Munro and is the seventh-h ...
, a number of Munros, and well-known hills such as
Bowfell, the
Langdale Pikes
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 ...
and
Carnedd Dafydd
Carnedd Dafydd is a mountain peak in the Carneddau range in Snowdonia, Wales, and is the third highest peak in Wales, or the fourth if Crib y Ddysgl on the Snowdon ridge is counted. Situated south-west of Carnedd Llewelyn and north of Pen ...
, are not Marilyns because they do not have sufficient height relative to the surrounding terrain (i.e. they have taller "parents"). Not all Marilyns are even hills in the usual sense:
Crowborough () sits in a town, whilst
Bishop Wilton Wold
Bishop Wilton Wold is the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The summit, known as Garrowby Hill, lies about north of Pocklington.
As with most of the wolds, it is wide, flat and agricultural in natu ...
highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds () lies alongside the
A166 road
The A166 road is a trunk road between the outskirts of York and Driffield in the historic county of Yorkshire. The road used to terminate at the seaside town of Bridlington, until the opening of the Driffield by-pass caused the final section ...
. At the other extreme are
Stac Lee () and
Stac an Armin
Stac an Armin ( gd, Stac an Àrmainn), based on the proper Scottish Gaelic spelling (formerly ''àrmuinn''), is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago. It is 196 metres (643 ft.) tall, qualifying it as a Marilyn. It is the highest sea ...
(), the two highest
sea stacks
A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology ...
in the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, in the
St Kilda archipelago, west of the Scottish mainland.
, there were 2,011 Marilyns in the British Isles, with 1,219 Marilyns in Scotland, including 202 of the 282 Scottish Munros; Munros with a Marilyn–prominence are sometimes called ''Real Munros''.
There were a further 454 Marilyns in Ireland, 175 in England, 158 in Wales, and 5 in the Isle of Man.
On 13 October 2014 Rob Woodall and Eddie Dealtry became the first people to climb all 1,557 Marilyns in Great Britain. , 10 ''Marilynists'' had climbed the 1,557 Marilyns of Great Britain, while 270 had entered the ''Marilyn Hall of Fame'' by climbing over 600 Marilyns.
Coverage
![Stac an Armin and Boreray](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Stac_an_Armin_and_Boreray.jpg)
, the list of 2,011 British Isles Marilyns contained:
By height and prominence
This list was downloaded from the ''
Database of British and Irish Hills
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attemp ...
'' ("DoBIH") in October 2018, and are peaks the DoBIH marks as Marilyns ("M"). As topological prominence is complex to measure, these tables are subject to revision over time, and should not be amended or updated unless the entire DoBIH data is re-downloaded. The tables are structured to show rankings by height and prominence over the entire British Isles, or by region.
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
DoBIH codes
The
DoBIH
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attemp ...
uses the following codes for the various
classifications of mountains and hills in the British Isles, which many of the above peaks also fall into:
suffixes:
= twin
See also
*
List of British Isles mountains by height
This is a list of mountains in Britain and Ireland by height and by prominence. Height and Topographic prominence, prominence are the most important metrics for the classifications of mountains by the UIAA; with topographic isolation, isolation a ...
*
Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt ...
*
List of mountains in Ireland
In these lists of mountains in Ireland, those within Northern Ireland, or on the Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, are marked with an asterisk, while the rest are within the Republic of Ireland. Where mountains are ranked by heigh ...
*
List of Munro mountains in Scotland
This is a list of Munro mountains and Munro Tops in Scotland by height. Munros are defined as Scottish mountains over in height, and which are on the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") official list of Munros. In addition, the SMC define Mu ...
*
List of Murdos (mountains)
This is a list of Murdo mountains in Scotland by height. Murdos are defined as Scottish mountains over in height, above the general threshold to be called a "mountain" in the British Isles, and with a prominence over ; a mix of imperial an ...
*
List of Furths in the British Isles
*
List of P600 mountains in the British Isles
This is a list of P600 mountains in Britain and Ireland by height. A P600 is defined as a mountain with a topographic prominence above , regardless of elevation or any other merits (e.g. topographic isolation); this is a similar approach to that ...
Notes
References
External links
The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH) the largest database of British Isles mountains
Hill Bagging UK & Ireland the searchable interface for the DoBIH
MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website the DoBIH for Ireland (Republic and North)
the searchable database for the MountainViews
The Relative Hills of Britain a website dedicated to mountain and hill classification
Google Earth .kmz fileshowing all Marilyns
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Marilyn Mountains in the British Isles
Marilyns
Articles with OS grid coordinates