The Eastern Fells

Birkhouse Moor

The pile of stones (hardly a cairn) at Birkhouse Moor summit, looking north-east along the ridge to the north top.
Photograph taken: 27th June 2024

The pile of stones (hardly a cairn) at Birkhouse Moor summit, looking north-east along the ridge to the north top.
Photograph taken: 27th June 2024
The cairn at Brikhouse Moor north top, looking south-west to the true summit, about 500m away. Striding Edge (left) and Catstycam (right) stand either side of a misty Helvellyn.
Photograph taken: 27th June 2024
Birkhouse Moor summit as seen from Hole-in-the-Wall, about 600m to the south-west. Ullswater is glimpsed on the right with Sheffield Pike on the left.
Photograph taken: 27th June 2024

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Location map for Birkhouse Moor

Wainwright top at Birkhouse Moor

Context

Birkhouse Moor is a Wainwright in The Eastern Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 36342 15974
BNG e,n: 336342,515974
Lat/long: 54.535018,-2.985300
GeoJSON: [-2.985300,54.535018]
///W3W: heartache.test.sampled
Feature: loose pile of stones near wall

Elevation

Height: 717.6m / 2,354ft
Drop: 22.3m
Rank: 78 / 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 and true summit of Birkhouse Moor is at a loose pile of stones between the Striding Edge path and the ridge-top wall. However, there is a proper cairn at the north top. This is lower and less frequently visited but worth it for the view.

Cairn at north top

Grid Ref: NY 36524 16393
///W3W: loudness.retraced.kebabs

Route planning

Fells

Helvellyn: 2.7km; 312m; 1hr 1min
Nethermost Pike: 3.2km; 321m; 1hr 9min

Details

There are 2 viable routes from Birkhouse Moor

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

2549

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

Nuttall, Subsimm

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.
Subsimm: British hills that are at least 600m high and fall short of a drop of 30m on all sides by up to 10m. There are 12 Wainwrights in this class.

Geology

Bedrock

Helvellyn Tuff Formation

BGS code

HLV

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

A tuff is a rock formed of volcanic ash, ejected from a volcano during an eruption.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 12 minutes

Dawn