St Sunday Crag 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, part of the Fairfield group in the

Eastern Fells The Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Centred on Helvellyn they primarily comprise a north–south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley. Partition of the Lakeland fells The Lake District i ...

. It is a prominent feature in the

Patterdale Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, in the traditional county of Westmorland, and the long valley in which they are found, also ...

skyline, with a distinctive rounded shape. Indeed, it figures so finely in views from the upper reach of the lake that it is sometimes referred to as ‘the

Ullswater Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being about long and wide, with a maximum depth a little over . It was scooped out by a glacier in the Last Ice Age. Geography It is a typical Lake District "ribbon lake", ...

Fell’.Richards, Mark: ''Near Eastern Fells'': Collins (2003):

Topography

St Sunday Crag is the high point on the north-eastern ridge of Fairfield, which runs for two miles before descending to the valley floor behind Patterdale village. From the flat Fairfield summit a rough slope descends over the subsidiary top of Cofa Pike to the col at

Deepdale Hause 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 of northwest England, trav ...

at ''c''680 m (2,200 ft). This is a narrow point on the ridge, deeply scarred by pedestrian traffic. The ground now rises again to St Sunday Crag, soaring above the fells on either side. Beyond the summit there is a swift drop to the lower plateau of Birks and beyond this is the further satellite of Arnison Crag. The top of St Sunday Crag is triangular in plan with a third ridge running off due east. This crosses a depression (The Cape) before the lower top of Gavel Pike at 784 m (2,572 ft) is reached. From below this is a shapely pyramid worthy of the ‘pike’ designation, although its subsidiarity is all too plain from above. Below Gavel Pike is the further top of Lord's Seat before the short east ridge falls away over rough ground to Deepdale. It is the north-western face above Grisedale that is St Sunday Crag's chief glory. The long graceful curve of the top is set above a wall of crag half a mile long, the whole face being neatly symmetrical. A series of vertical gullies slice through the crags, which together with the intervening ridges provide sport for scramblers and climbers. The crags peter out at about 550 m (1,800 ft), to be replaced by a steep scree slope falling to the valley floor, a further 250 m (800 ft) below. Fine views of this face can be had from

Helvellyn Helvellyn (; possible meaning: ''pale yellow moorland'') is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ul ...

and

Birkhouse Moor Birkhouse Moor is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells. It is properly an eastern ridge of Helvellyn, but was treated as a separate fell by Alfred Wainwright in his ''Pictorial Guide to the ...

across the valley. To the south-east of the fell is the valley of Deepdale, separating St Sunday Crag from

Hart Crag Hart Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, being one of the Fairfield group of hills in the Eastern Fells. Topography The fell stands on the ridge running south east from Fairfield to Dove Crag, at the point where a long subsidiary spu ...

and Hartsop above How. This face too is steep and rough, although without sustained outcropping of rock. Between Gavel Pike and Birks is Cold Cove, a

hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

cut off by Deepdale. All of the becks from St Sunday Crag reach the head of Ullswater at Patterdale.

Geology

Geologically the summit area is andesite, overlaying the St Sunday Crag Member, a 50-metre-thick layer of rhyodactic lapilli-tuff which breaks the surface on the east ridge.Woodhall, DG: ''Geology of the Keswick District- a brief explanation of the geological map. 1:50,000 Sheet 29'': British Geological Survey (2000)

Summit

Given the fine ridges to either side, the summit of St Sunday Crag is surprisingly level and green. Two cairns sit upon the highest area, where rocks protrude through the turf. A further cairn at the northern end of the summit area marks the prime viewpoint for Ullswater. A quartz cross, now hard to find amid the bilberry, lies above the crags marking the top of East Chockstone Gully. The view takes much of the District, Striding Edge and the crags of Fairfield being particularly prominent.

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 1: Gavel Pike provides good views of the head of Deepdale.

Ascents

The main starting point for ascents is Patterdale, either by climbing or traversing Birks. Arnison Crag can also be thrown in for good measure and the north-east ridge gives fantastic rearward views of Ullswater. A further Patterdale alternative is the Elmhow zig-zag which climbs the Grisedale face just north of the crags. Lord's Seat and the east ridge can be climbed from Deepdale, starting from the car park at Bridgend. St Sunday Crag can also be ascended from the west by making first for Grisedale Tarn. This puts the summit into reach from Grasmere or Dunmail Raise. St Sunday Crag now finds itself on

's popular Coast to Coast Walk, vastly increasing the traffic across the top.

Name

Saint Sunday is a local name for Saint Dominic, though it is not certain how this saint’s name became attached to the fell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sunday Crag Hewitts of England Marilyns of England Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls Patterdale