The Central Fells

Sergeant Man

Sergeant Man summit cairn, looking north-east to the Helvellyn range with Codale Head on the right.
Photograph taken: 29th July 2016

Sergeant Man summit cairn, looking north-east to the Helvellyn range with Codale Head on the right.
Photograph taken: 29th July 2016
Sergeant Man is most commonly identified in distant views as a small blob. Close up, it can be seen to be a dome-shaped top of craggy rock. The beautiful cairn illustrated by Wainwright (Sergeant Man 8) no longer exists.
Photograph taken: 30th August 2021

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Location map for Sergeant Man

Wainwright top at Sergeant Man

Context

Sergeant Man is a Wainwright in The Central Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 28644 08891
BNG e,n: 328644,508891
Lat/long: 54.470348,-3.102529
GeoJSON: [-3.102529,54.470348]
///W3W: train.ratty.honey
Feature: small cairn on outcrop

Elevation

Height: 736m / 2,415ft
Drop: 12.0m
Rank: 70 / 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.

Route planning

Fells

Blea Rigg: 2.1km; 14m; 26min
Calf Crag: 2.7km; 72m; 39min
High Raise: 0.9km; 34m; 14min
Tarn Crag: 2.1km; 44m; 29min
Thunacar Knott: 1.4km; 46m; 20min

Details

There are 5 viable routes from Sergeant Man

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

2407

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

Unclassified

Unclassified: A hill with no national classification.

Geology

Bedrock

Seathwaite Fell Sandstone Formation

BGS code

SET

Type

Sedimentary (shallow-marine)

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

These volcanistic sedimentary rocks were laid down in shallow seas. They are predominantly formed from sandstone (coarse-grained) and siltstone (fine-grained) units. They may be interbedded with tuff, lapilli-tuff, breccia and conglomorate, and may also include andersite sills.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 11 minutes

Dawn