The Western Fells

Great Gable

Great Gable summit cairn (which comes and goes), looking south-west to Wastwater with Illgill Head and Whin Rigg on the left and Yewbarrow, Middle Fell, and Seatallan on the right.
Photograph taken: 23rd May 2018

Great Gable summit cairn (which comes and goes), looking south-west to Wastwater with Illgill Head and Whin Rigg on the left and Yewbarrow, Middle Fell, and Seatallan on the right.
Photograph taken: 23rd May 2018
The summit of Great Gable (without cairn), looking south-west to Wast Water.
Photograph taken: 29th July 2024
The Fell and Rock Climbing Club plaque at Great Gable summit, commemorating members lost during the First World War and “The Great Gift” of 3,000 acres of land. The current plaque replaced a similar plaque (now located at St. Olaf's Church, Wasdale Head) in 2013.
Photograph taken: 23rd May 2018
The view down to Wasdale, from the Great Gable summit, looking south-west with Illgill Head and Whin Rigg on the left, and Yewbarrow and Middle Fell on the right.
Photograph taken: 23rd May 2018
The Westmorland cairn at Great Gable summit, looking south-west to Wasdale and Wast Water with Scafell Pike, Scafell, and Lingmell on the left and Yewbarrow on the right.
Photograph taken: 29th July 2024

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Location map for Great Gable

Wainwright top at Great Gable

Context

Great Gable is a Wainwright in The Western Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 21101 10320
BNG e,n: 321101,510320
Lat/long: 54.482069,-3.219271
GeoJSON: [-3.219271,54.482069]
///W3W: proposals.served.bakers
Feature: occasional small cairn on rock outcrop

Elevation

Height: 899m / 2,949ft
Drop: 426.0m
Rank: 7 / 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 true summit and Wainwright top at Great Gable is not in doubt. However, a visit to the Westmorland cairn (Great Gable 28), which is not visible from the summit, is a must.

Westmorland cairn

Grid Ref: NY 21075 10208
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Route planning

Fells

Seathwaite Fell: 3.7km; 172m; 1hr
Green Gable: 0.7km; 48m; 13min
Kirk Fell: 2.0km; 219m; 45min

Details

There are 3 viable routes from Great Gable

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

2367

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

Hewitt, Marylin, Nuttall, Simm, Trail 100

Hewitt: Hills in England, Wales, and Ireland that are at least 2,000 feet (610m) high with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 97 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.
Nuttall: Hills in England and Wales that are at least 2,000 feet (610m) high and with a drop of at least 15m on all sides, as published in the two volumes of The Mountains of England and Wales by John and Anne Nuttall. There are 169 Nuttalls in the Lake District, 114 are also Wainwrights.
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.
Trail 100: A curated list of 100 British hills published in Trail Magazine. “…a collection of the 100 peaks that all hillwalkers must climb at least once in their lifetime.” The Trail 100 includes 24 Wainwrights.

Geology

Bedrock

Scafell Dacite Member

BGS code

SCD

Type

Igneous (extrusive)

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Lingmell Tuff Formation ➔
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 are volcanic in origin. Rich in silica, they form viscous flows of lava with feeder dykes and sills. They may be locally flow-banded and folded. 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 texture.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 11 minutes

Dawn