The Central Fells

Armboth Fell

Wainwright's top at Armboth Fell, looking north-west to the true summit (smooth rock dome) and High Seat on the left. Blencathra can be seen in the distance.
Photograph taken: 26th June 2024

Wainwright's top at Armboth Fell, looking north-west to the true summit (smooth rock dome) and High Seat on the left. Blencathra can be seen in the distance.
Photograph taken: 26th June 2024
Wainwright's top is on a knoll (left), about 250m south-west of the true summit (right). There is little doubt about which is the higher of the two tops.
Photograph taken: 26th June 2024
The true summit at Armboth Fell is a smooth rock dome. This view looks west, with High Tove on the right and Pillar in the distance on the left.
Photograph taken: 29th April 2022

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Location map for Armboth Fell

Wainwright top at Armboth Fell

Context

Armboth Fell is a Wainwright in The Central Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 29584 15739
BNG e,n: 329584,515739
Lat/long: 54.532010,-3.089664
GeoJSON: [-3.089664,54.532010]
///W3W: liver.aimlessly.capacity
Feature: rocky knoll with grass

Elevation

Height: 475m / 1,558ft
Drop: 7.7m
Rank: 182 / 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

Armboth Fell has a clear and obvious summit, a dome of exposed rock rising from a sea of grass that matches Wainwright's description (Armboth Fell 5). Consequently, it is often mistaken as the Wainwright top. However, Wainwright's top lies about 250m south-west of the rock dome on an unassuming rocky knoll. His top is more than 5m lower than the true summit and poorer in almost every respect.

True summit (large smooth outcrop)

Grid Ref: NY 29679 15968
///W3W: owner.shorts.fetching

Route planning

Fells

High Tove: 1.3km; 79m; 22min
Raven Crag: 3.9km; 127m; 58min
Ullscarf: 4.8km; 307m; 1hr 26min

Details

There are 3 viable routes from Armboth 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

Armboth Fell is difficult to combine with other fells in a circular walk. It may be best treated as an out and back, combined with High Tove from the Armboth car park at Thirlmere.

Classification

DoBIH No

2483

Local

Wainwright

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

Unclassified

Unclassified: A hill with no national classification.

Notes

The choice of Wainwright's top on this fell is another example of his eccentricity. It is neither the highest point nor the most prominent feature. All other classifications (including Birkett and Fellranger) recognise the smooth rock outcrop to the north of this top as being the true summit.

Geology

Bedrock

Birker Fell Andesite Formation

BGS code

BFA

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

Predominantly sheets of fine to coarse grained andersite, formed from fluid lava flows with feeder dykes and sills. The formation may also include some basalts and dacites. Distinctive units within the formation are identified as member units e.g. Haystacks Andersite Member. Andersites are volcanic rocks, intermediate between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 12 minutes

Dawn