The Southern Fells

Illgill Head

The Wainwright top at Illgill Head. This is the cairn at the south top, looking north-east to Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, and Great Gable. This is not the highest point on the fell, the north top is higher.
Photograph taken: 22nd May 2017

The Wainwright top at Illgill Head. This is the cairn at the south top, looking north-east to Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, and Great Gable. This is not the highest point on the fell, the north top is higher.
Photograph taken: 22nd May 2017
The shelter cairn (NY 16904 05016) at Illgill Head north top. This is not the true summit nor the Wainwright top but is the most obvious feature at the north top, situated in Wainwright's “rash of stones”. The backdrop in this view is (left to right) Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, Great Gable, and Lingmell.
Photograph taken: 22nd April 2026
The true summit at Illgill Head is unmarked except by a small rock outcrop. This view looks north-west to the shelter cairn with Haycock, Scoat Fell, Red Pike, and Pillar as a backdrop. Kirk Fell is on the far right.
Photograph taken: 22nd April 2026

Previous fell Next fell

Location map for Illgill Head

Wainwright top at Illgill Head

Context

Illgill Head is a Wainwright in The Southern Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 16542 04804
BNG e,n: 316542,504804
Lat/long: 54.431780,-3.288060
GeoJSON: [-3.288060,54.431780]
///W3W: attic.buffoon.signature
Feature: large cairn

Elevation

Height: 608.8m / 1,997ft
Drop: 312.2m
Rank: 128 / 214

Details

Locating Wainwright tops

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the Wainwright top is at the true summit of a fell. For many fells in the 214, this is not the case. Wainwright often chose a top because of its aspect or view rather than its height. This is what sometimes makes finding the Wainwright tops so confusing.

Locating a top is also complicated by the fact that features change over time. Cairns come and go, some grow and some shrink, fence posts are added or removed. Although the summit sketches in Wainwright's guides and the photographs in this guide are useful aids for identification, the features shown are subject to change, especially on popular fells. See Fleetwith Pike for an example of how cairns change.

Important: The accuracy of GPS on smartphones is ±5m at best but could be as much as 8m out. Please bear this in mind when using the location data.

Notes

The Wainwright top at this fell is at the south top, not at the true summit (north top). It is a large cairn and is located on the main ridge path. Unusually, Wainwright prefers it to the more dramatically located shelter cairn at the north top.The true summit is unmarked.

True summit

Grid Ref: NY 16898 04924
///W3W: studs.gravest.cleanser

Route planning

Fells

Whin Rigg: 2.0km; 59m; 29min

Details

There is one viable route from Illgill Head

The Wainwright guides indicate “ridge routes” from each fell and although this is useful, it doesn't always allow for effective route planning. The routes shown here are the Wainwright ridge routes (indicated with ) plus any other viable routes (indicated with ), not necessarily linked by a ridge. This list provides a more comprehensive network of potential routes that can be used when planning days out on the fells.

All routes have been plotted in the OS Maps app. The distance, ascent and time values are those given for the plotted routes. Time values are for moderately fit walkers without breaks. They should therefore be considered minimum values for the purposes of route planning.

Classification

DoBIH No

2454

Local

Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Wainwright

Birkett: Lake District hills over 1,000ft listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells. There are 541 Birketts, 211 are also Wainwrights.
Fellranger: Lake District hills included in Mark Richards' Fellranger walking series, a set of eight volumes inspired by the Wainwright guides. There are 230 Fellrangers, 209 are also Wainwrights. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.
Synge: Lake District hills over 300m listed in Tim Synge's The Lakeland Summits. The book aims to list every significant summit over 300m in height within the National Park, 646 in total. It includes all 214 fells in Wainwright's Pictorial Guides, including Castle Crag at 290m.
Wainwright: Lake District hills included in volumes 1-7 of Wainwright's A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 Wainwrights in all. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.

National

Dewey, Marylin, Simm

Dewey: Hills in England, Wales, and the Isle of Man that are at least 500m high and less than 609.6m (2,000ft) with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 31 Wainwrights in this class.
Marylin: British and Irish hills of any height with a drop of at least 150m on all sides. There are 39 Wainwrights in this class.
Simm: British hills that are at least 600m high with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 99 Wainwrights in this class.

Geology

Bedrock

Lingmell Tuff Formation

BGS code

LME

Type

Igneous (extrusive)

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Borrowdale Volcanic Group

Details

Members, formations and groups

Member: A smaller unit of rock that shares common charateristics and features, often used in geology to describe specific layers within a formation.
Formation: A larger unit of rock that is distinct from other formations above and below. A formation may include two or more members.
Group: A stratigraphic unit that includes two or more associated formations that are usually contiguous or contain significant features in common.
Suite: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of the same type, lacking discernable stratification.
Complex: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of different types, lacking discernable stratification.

Notes

These igneous rocks form a stratified sequence of silicic tuff, lapilli-tuff and pyroclastic breccia with alternating beds of volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks. A tuff is a rock formed of volcanic ash, ejected from a volcano during an eruption.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 11 minutes

Dawn