The North Western Fells

Sale Fell

Sale Fell summit, looking east to the Skiddaw massif with Dodd on the right. The Helvellyn range can be seen in the distance on the right, above the wooded Ladies Table.
Photograph taken: 11th May 2025

Sale Fell summit, looking east to the Skiddaw massif with Dodd on the right. The Helvellyn range can be seen in the distance on the right, above the wooded Ladies Table.
Photograph taken: 11th May 2025
Looking north-west to Sale Fell from the large cairn on the subsidiary top at Rivings.
Photograph taken: 11th May 2025

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Location map for Sale Fell

Wainwright top at Sale Fell

Context

Sale Fell is a Wainwright in The North Western Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 19445 29664
BNG e,n: 319445,529664
Lat/long: 54.655608,-3.250133
GeoJSON: [-3.250133,54.655608]
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Feature: exposed rock in grass

Elevation

Height: 359m / 1,178ft
Drop: 137.0m
Rank: 208 / 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 small cairn shown in Wainwright's sketch (Sale Fell 11) has long since gone, as has much of the grass in the immediate vicinity of the top. However, the location of the top is not in doubt, especially when comparing the view towards Skiddaw with the outline of mountains in the same sketch.

Route planning

Fells

Ling Fell: 2.4km; 225m; 50min

Details

There is one viable route from Sale Fell

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.

Notes

Wainwright: “Sale Fell is isolated, and has no ridge links with other fells.”

Classification

DoBIH No

2503

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

300-399m TUMP, Hump

300-399m TUMP: British hills that are 300-399m in height with at least 30m of drop. There are 11 Wainwrights in this class.
Hump: British and Irish Hills of any height with a drop of at least 100m or more on all sides. The name Hump stands for Hundred Metre Prominence. There are 32 Wainwrights in this class.

Geology

Bedrock

Loweswater Formation

BGS code

LWF

Type

Sedimentary (marine)

Age

465.5 – 477.7 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Skiddaw 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 sedimentary rocks are marine in origin. They comprise coarse- to fine-grained slurries of debris from the continental shelf flowing into a deep-sea environment, forming distinctively graded beds. Mainly sandstone with minor mudstone and quartz-rich greywacke (dark sandstone). Basal beds are mainly thin, fine-grained sandstones interbedded with siltstones and mudstone.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 14 minutes

Dawn