Mardale Ill Bell 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Lake District, rising to the south west of

Haweswater Reservoir Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a Private Ac ...

. It stands on the watershed between

Mardale Mardale is a glacial valley in the Lake District, in northern England. The valley used to have a hamlet at its head, called Mardale Green, but this village was submerged in the late 1930s when the water level of the valley's lake, Haweswater, w ...

and

Kentmere Kentmere is a valley, village and civil parish in the Lake District National Park, a few miles from Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in Westmorland, at the 2011 census Kentmere had a population of 1 ...

and is the highpoint of the south-eastern ridge of

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 ...

, midway on its course to Harter Fell.

Topography

The head of the Kentmere valley lies to the south-west of the fell with rough slopes leading down over scree to

Kentmere Reservoir Kentmere Reservoir is a water storage facility situated in the Kentmere valley in the county of Cumbria, England. It is located north-northeast of the town of Windermere. The reservoir is fed by the streams which form the headwaters of the Rive ...

. Mardale Ill Bell sends out a short grass-topped spur, Lingmell End, which splits the head of the valley into two. The north-eastern face of Mardale Ill Bell forms the craggy backdrop to Blea Water. This perfect corrie tarn is the deepest in the Lake District at 207 ft. Its outflow feeds Haweswater, joining with that of a second tarn, Small Water. Between the two, Mardale Ill Bell throws out the rocky spur of Piot Crag. Two tiers of crag drop down to the confluence at Mardale Waters. South-east of the summit a rough narrowing ridge drops to Nan Bield Pass at 2,100 ft, before rising again over rocky steps to Harter Fell. Nan Bield was the ancient trading route between Kentmere and the now drowned village of Mardale Green, submerged by the raising of Haweswater in the 1940s. Near the shore of Small Water on the descending path are a number of stone shelters, pointers to the earlier importance of the pass. These each provide refuge for one person ''in extremis'', entrance being via crawling. North-west from Mardale Ill Bell the grassy ridge crosses a wet depression and then expands into a wide plateau, triangular in plan. High Street and Thornthwaite Crag are at the other two corners, with the Roman road crossing north to south.

Summit

The summit has two large cairns on grass, the northern one being the top. The view westwards is confined by higher fells but the Ill Bell ridge and Coniston range are seen to good effect.

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 ''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 ...

'', Book 2: Blea Water and Small Water can be brought into sight from the rim of the crags.

Ascents

The most popular routes of ascent are on the Mardale side. From the road end Nan Bield pass can be used, or the impressive scenery of Piot Crag can be attained from the shore of either Blea or Small Water. From Kentmere, Nan Bield provides the obvious route, although a pathless climb up to the top of Lingmell End is possible.

References

{{Far Eastern Fells Fells of the Lake District