High Raise 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 Central Fells of the English Lake District, not to be confused with another High Raise situated in the

Far Eastern Fells The Far Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Street (828 metres or 2.718 ft.), they occupy a broad area to the east of Ullswater and Kirkstone Pass. Much quieter than the ...

. High Raise is one of the most spectacular mountains in the district; with a height of 762 metres (2,500 ft) it is the highest point in the central fells of Lakeland. High Raise is in fact commonly regarded as the most central mountain in the district and this position gives a fine viewpoint to admire the surrounding mountains and beyond. All of England's 3,000-foot (914 m) mountains ( Skiddaw,

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 the Scafells) can be well seen from the summit while the more distant views include the Three Peaks in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

(37 miles / 60 km) and

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

(25 miles / 40 km).

Summit

The summit itself, which is also known as High White Stones due to a smattering of grey boulders in the vicinity of the highest point, has an

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

column and a large cairn which also doubles as a wind shelter; a ruined fence also crosses the summit plateau.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003): The view is extensive as befits the central location with all major fell groups visible. The only disappointment is 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 ...

, which seen from behind lack most of their distinctiveness. No lakes are seen other than short sections of

Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about . It is the only body of water in the Lake ...

and

Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowdal ...

Ascents

Ascents of High Raise are usually done from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale or the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Great Langdale, although routes are also viable from Grasmere and

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for instance, Armboth Fell and Raven Crag both ...

. The Stonethwaite approach gives the walker a chance to climb the neighbouring fell of Ullscarf, while the route from Great Langdale allows visits to the splendid Langdale Pikes either before or after climbing High Raise.

Topography

The fell is the meeting-point of many ridges. The main watershed of the Central Fells can be thought of as a 'L' shape with High Raise, the highest point, standing at the corner. The northern ridge continues over Ullscarf and High Seat towards the low fells above Keswick. South-eastward the spine continues over

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 f ...

and

Silver How Silver How is a fell in the English Lake District, standing over the village of Grasmere. How, derived from the Old Norse word ''haugr'', is a common local term for a hill or mound. Topography Silver How forms part of the Blea Rigg ridge and ...

, terminating at Loughrigg Fell above Grasmere and

Rydal Water Rydal Water is a small body of water in the central part of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is located near the hamlet of Rydal, between Grasmere and Ambleside in the Rothay Valley.Parker, 2004, page 35 The lake is 1, ...

. To the east there are a number of subsidiary ridges, diverging from Sergeant Man. This rocky top is a part of High Raise, but is considered by many writers as a separate fell because of its appearance. Beyond lie Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag,

Steel Fell Steel Fell is a fell in the English Lake District, lying between Thirlmere and Grasmere. It is triangular in plan, the ridges running north, west and south east. Steel Fell rises to the west of the Dunmail Pass road and can be climbed from the ...

and Tarn Crag. South of High Raise lie its most famous offspring, the

. These picturesque craggy heights form the parapet of High Raise's southern plateau, standing atop the valley wall and the centrepiece of many views.

Geology

High White Stones is an outcrop of the Lincomb Tarns Formation. This consists of

dacitic Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyol ...

welded lapilli-

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 ...

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 ...

. These rocks are overlain by

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

over the rest of the summit area. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 series maps: Sheet 38: BGS (1998)

References

{{Marilyns N Eng Marilyns of England Hewitts of England Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls