Tarn 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 Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

in the

Central Fells The Central Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Raise (2,500 ft or 762 metres), they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. The Central Fells are generally lower than the ...

of the English

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 ...

. Strictly the name refers only to the rock face looking down upon Easedale Tarn, but

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 ...

applied it to the entire ridge lying between the Easedale and Far Easedale valleys in his ''

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 ...

Topography

The spine of the Central Fells runs north from High Raise, forming the watershed between

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Allerdale, Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for inst ...

and

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' t ...

. A number of lesser ridges radiate out eastwards from High Raise, centred upon the subsidiary top of Sergeant Man. One of these runs between the valleys of Far Easedale and Easedale, terminating at their confluence above Grasmere village. The ridge is narrow to the east of the summit, rising over a series of knolls between the gradually diverging valleys. Westward it broadens considerably, swinging southward around the head of Codale Tarn before becoming indistinct in the general rising ground towards Sergeant Man and the High Raise massif. Codale Tarn is a shallow pool, its original outlet blocked by a

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

so that it now overflows via a rock lip.Blair, Don: ''Exploring Lakeland Tarns'': Lakeland Manor Press (2003): The southern flank of the fell comprises Tarn and Greathead Crags, the backdrop to the popular picnic spot of Easedale Tarn. Much larger than Codale, this tarn is around 70 ft deep and contains

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. Across the tarn are the crags of

Blea Rigg Blea Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, lying between the valleys of Easedale and Great Langdale. One of the Central Fells, it is a broad plateau with a succession of rocky tops. Many routes of ascent are possible, beginning either fr ...

. On the northern side of the ridge Deer Bields Crag broods over Far Easedale, with Calf Crag beyond.

Geology

The summit area is composed of the dacitic welded

lapilli Lapilli is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' (singular: ''lapillus'') is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range f ...

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 ...

and

volcaniclastic Volcaniclastics are geologic materials composed of broken fragments (clasts) of volcanic rock. These encompass all clastic volcanic materials, regardless of what process fragmented the rock, how it was subsequently transported, what environment it ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

of the Lincomb Tarns Formation. The southern crags reveal

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 ...

sills and the pebbly sandstone and

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...

of the Pavey Ark Member.

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS h ...

: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)

Summit

The highest point is a peaked outcrop, topped by a small

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

. The views eastward are extensive and Easedale Tarn can be brought into view from a subsidiary top to the south.

Ascents

Tarn Crag is generally climbed from Grasmere via its eastern ridge, where a path winds among the rocks. This can be reached from Easedale Tarn, the top of the Sour Milk Gill cascades, or from Stythwaite Steps in Far Easedale. Ascents from the base of Deer Bield Crag or via Codale Tarn are also possible, although pathless.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003):

References

{{Central Fells Fells of the Lake District South Lakeland District