Lord's Seat 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 of M ...
in the
English Lake District
The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
. It is the highest of the group of hills north of
Whinlatter Pass
The Whinlatter Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5292 road linking Braithwaite, to the west of Keswick, with High Lorton to the south of Cockermouth.
To the north the pass is flanked ...
in the
North Western Fells
The North Western Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Including such favourites as Catbells and Grisedale Pike, they occupy an oval area beneath the Buttermere and Borrowdale valley systems. The North We ...
. The slopes of Lord's Seat are extensively forested.
Topography
The North Western Fells occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. Lord's Seat is the hub of the most northerly sector, rising between
Whinlatter Pass
The Whinlatter Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5292 road linking Braithwaite, to the west of Keswick, with High Lorton to the south of Cockermouth.
To the north the pass is flanked ...
and the Vale of Embleton.
The principal feature of these fells is a ridge running from the Vale of Lorton in the west to
Bassenthwaite Lake
Bassenthwaite Lake is a body of water in the Lake District in North West England, near the town of Keswick. It has an area of , making the fourth largest of the lakes in the region. The lake has a length of approximately long and maximum wid ...
in the east. Travelling in this direction the main tops are
Graystones
Graystones is a fell in the England, English Lake District. It lies in the North Western Fells region and is one of the peaks on the ridge which encircles the valley of Aiken Beck.
Name
According to Alfred Wainwright the name Graystones prop ...
,
Broom Fell
Broom Fell is a hill with the status of a List of Wainwrights, Wainwright in the English Lake District. It lies on a ridge connecting Lord's Seat and Graystones. Alfred Wainwright provided it's status as a separate fell in his influential guidebo ...
, Lord's Seat and
Barf. Barf is in truth a satellite of Lord's Seat but was given the status of a separate fell by
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...
in his influential ''
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 ...
''
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...
: ''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 6, The North Western Fells'': Westmorland Gazette (1964):
Lord's Seat is the focal point of the group and sends out a number of additional ridges. To the south east is Ullister Hill, , a bare mound surrounded by conifer plantations. Further on in the same direction is Seat How, , a rocky top standing above the steep descent to Comb Beck and the Whinlatter Pass road. A second branch of the ridge curves around south and then west from Ullister Hill, terminating in
Whinlatter
Whinlatter is a small fell in the north west of the English Lake District, just north of the Whinlatter Pass. It is easily climbed from the top of the Whinlatter Pass, through the Forestry England plantations. The Whinlatter Visitor's Centre, a ...
fell. Between Whinlatter and the main east-west ridge is the quiet valley of Aiken Beck.
North eastward from Lord's Seat, branching off from the ridge connection to Barf, is a long and sometimes imperceptible watershed which runs up the shore of Bassenthwaite. This divides the catchments of Wythop Beck (flowing north west) and Beck Wythop, a short stream running directly east into the lake. Some way to the north, this line of higher ground ends at
Sale Fell.
Lord's Seat gives birth to a number of streams which, although departing in different directions, all ultimately join the River Derwent. Aiken Beck and its many tributaries drain the south western flanks, most of which are clad in conifers. Hagg Beck, the main feeder of Beck Wythop, begins a little to the north of the summit. This runs across open fellside at first, only entering the trees at around the contour. Beckstones Gill flows to Bassenthwaite to the south of Barf, while an unnamed stream does the same to the north. All of the eastern flanks of the range are forested, except for the scree-ridden face of Barf between these two watercourses.
Geology
The predominant surface rocks are the Kirk Stile Formation, composed of laminated
mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
and
siltstone
Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.
Although its permeabil ...
. Much of the summit is overlain with
peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
and there is a fault to the south west, beyond which are
greywacke
Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
turbidities of the Loweswater Formation.
[British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)]
There is evidence of historic mining activity on the eastern slopes, particularly below Seat How. Four mines operated in this area:- Ladstock, Rachel Wood, Thornthwaite and Beckstones. Most were abandoned in the 1870s but Thornthwaite and Rachel Wood operated until December 1920. The main yields were
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
ores, in particular
galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...
,
blende,
cerussite
Cerussite (also known as lead carbonate or white lead ore) is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate with the chemical formula PbCO3, and is an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin ''cerussa'', white lead. ''Cerussa nativa'' was ...
and
gossan
Gossan (eiserner hut or eisenhut) is intensely oxidized, weathered or decomposed rock, usually the upper and exposed part of an ore deposit or mineral vein. In the ''classic'' gossan or iron cap all that remains is iron oxides and quartz, often ...
.
[Adams, John: ''Mines of the Lake District Fells'': Dalesman (1995) ]
Summit
The top of Lord's Seat is a dome with exposed rock and no
cairn
A cairn is a human-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 (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...
. The clipped iron fence stubs suggest previous structures have been scavenged for iron, or simply removed.
The view is extensive, befitting the highest point north of Whinlatter. The
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Including Skiddaw, they occupy a wide area to the north of Keswick. Smooth, sweeping slopes predominate, with a minimum of tarns or crags. Blencathra in ...
are well displayed over Bassenthwaite and there is also a good view of the
Helvellyn range
The Helvellyn range is the name given to a part of the Eastern Fells in the English Lake District, "fell" being the local word for "hill". The name comes from Helvellyn, the highest summit of the group.
The Helvellyn range forms a ridge exte ...
.
Grasmoor
Grasmoor is a mountain in the north-western part of the Lake District, northern England. It is the highest peak in a group of hills between the villages of Lorton, Cumbria, Lorton, Braithwaite and Buttermere, and overlooks Crummock Water.
Grasm ...
and its supporters restrict the southward panorama, but there is no such obstruction to the north-west,
Criffel
Criffel is a hill in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is high but appears higher because of its great isolation and high prominence. It is a prominent feature in many of the views fro ...
being visible across the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...
in good visibility.
Ascents
From the western side of Whinlatter Pass a pleasant approach can be made up the wooded Aiken Valley, a quiet dale with no vehicular access. The summit of the pass also provides access, either direct via Ullister Hill, or by first climbing Whinlatter and then following the ridge. From the main road along the shore of Bassenthwaite a path can be followed beside Beckstones Gill, climbing just inside the forest. This is an easier alternative to the rough face of Barf.
[Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': Collins Willow (1994): ]
A popular tourist route begins at the Whinlatter visitor centre with parking available for a fee. This route begins at 330 metres in elevation, and proceeds north using marked trails for 3 kilometres, reducing the total climb to about 220 metres.
References
{{Marilyns N Eng
Fells of the Lake District
Marilyns of England