The Western Fells

High Stile

The Wainwright summit cairn above Chapel Crags on High Stile (806m). Despite being a metre lower than the highest point on the fell, it has the best aspect and location. This view looks north-west to Ennerdale Water.
Photograph taken: 24th August 2023

The Wainwright summit cairn above Chapel Crags on High Stile (806m). Despite being a metre lower than the highest point on the fell, it has the best aspect and location. This view looks north-west to Ennerdale Water.
Photograph taken: 24th August 2023
The cairn at the official summit of High Stile (807m), looking east to Fleetwith Pike. Larger cairns exist on the north-east spur, but this is the Ordnance Survey high point. A dark Great Gable can be seen on the right.
Photograph taken: 24th August 2023
The impressive view down to Bleaberry Tarn and Crummock Water from High Stile summit. Red Pike [Buttermere] is on the left with Dodd and Mellbreak centre, and the Grasmoor massif on the right.
Photograph taken: 24th August 2023
Looking across Burtness Comb to Grey Crag and the summit of High Stile from the ridge path near High Crag.
Photograph taken: 24th August 2023

Previous fell Next fell

Location map for High Stile

Wainwright top at High Stile

Context

High Stile is a Wainwright in The Western Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 16739 14788
BNG e,n: 316739,514788
Lat/long: 54.521515,-3.287840
GeoJSON: [-3.287840,54.521515]
///W3W: inert.towels.covertly
Feature: large cairn on rock platform

Elevation

Height: 806m / 2,644ft
Drop: 8.9m
Rank: 30 / 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 High Stile is the magnificent cairn and rock plinth above Chapel Crags. There is no doubt why Wainwright chose it as his preferred top, but it is not the highest point on the fell. That point (marked by one of several cairns, and not the largest of them) is on the spur of high ground that runs to the north-east.

True summit (cairn)

Grid Ref: NY 17009 14817
///W3W: pelt.figs.juggled

Route planning

Fells

High Crag: 1.9km; 69m; 29min
Red Pike: 1.1km; 47m; 18min

Details

There are 2 viable routes from High Stile

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

This fell is most often visited during a walk along the High Stile ridge and is approached from either Red Pike to the north-west or from High Crag to the south-east. The walk has fabulous views down into the Buttermere valley.

Classification

DoBIH No

3728

Local

Birkett, Wainwright

Birkett: Lake District hills over 1,000ft listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells. There are 541 Birketts, 211 are also Wainwrights.
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

Trail 100

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.

Notes

The most prominent cairn on this fell is not at the highest point. Analytical classifications, such as the Nuttalls, always recognise the highest point of a fell, not the most prominent, as the true summit. In his Fellranger chapter on High Stile, Mark Richards concedes that, “The Chapel Crags viewpoint is clearly superior. But you would be taking only half-measures if you restricted yourself to this one spot…”.

Geology

Bedrock

Eagle Crag Sandstone Member

BGS code

EAGC

Type

Sedimentary

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Birker Fell Andesite 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 sedimentary rocks are formed from volcanic rocks that have been redeposited or reworked as layers of siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate and breccia in a bedded succession. They may also include units of tuff and sills of andersite.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 12 minutes

Dawn