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Armboth Fell is a
fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
in the English
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
, regarded by
Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...
as the centre of Lakeland. It is named for the former settlement of Armboth. The
fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
is a domed plateau, three-quarters of a mile across, jutting out to the east of the
Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is a lake in the Lake District in North West England, immediately south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. It is in the unitary authority of Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland within the ceremonial county of ...
-
Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a numbe ...
watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...
, in the
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
district. The fell is wet underfoot, with large areas clad in heather. The eastern slopes above Thirlmere have been planted with
conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...
.


Topography

Armboth Fell joins the main ridge via a shallow depression, a little to the south of
High Tove High Tove is a fell in the English Lake District, close to the geographical centre of the Cumbrian hills. It forms part of the watershed between the Derwentwater and Thirlmere catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south. Topography Sitting ...
, and due east of Middle Crag. This boggy low point is the source of both Fisher Gill and Launchy Gill, which form the fell's northern and southern boundaries respectively. Fisher Gill takes the shorter course, flowing straight for the shore of the reservoir through a break in the conifers below Cockrigg Crag. It enters the lake near the Armboth public car park. Launchy Gill flows across the plateau via Launchy Tarn. This is prominent on OS maps, but on the ground is a pool wide. Very shallow, it lies on a gently sloping band of rock.Don Blair: ''Exploring Lakeland Tarns'': Lakeland Manor Press (2003): Launchy Gill then drops through the forest over a series of waterfalls. A marked nature tail, popular with children, follows the lower part of the gill through the trees. Prominent on the eastern flank of the fell is Fisher Crag (), a striking rock face set all about by trees and midway between the two gills. Reminiscent of
Raven Crag Raven Crag is a fell in the English Lake District that overlooks Thirlmere reservoir. It has subsidiary summits The Benn and Castle Crag. Topography The fell is the high point on a 2-mile-long spur running up the western shore of Thirlmere, b ...
to the north, this is a fine viewpoint for Thirlmere and the Eastern Fells, although public right of way is uncertain.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003):


Armboth

The fell is named for the settlement of Armboth which stood on the shore of Thirlmere near the mouth of Fisher Gill. When the level of the lake was raised to create the reservoir in the 1880s, the village was abandoned and submerged. The only remaining structure is the summerhouse of Armboth Hall which lies amid the trees, although a number of ruins, enclosures and tracks can still be found within the forest. There is now no habitation on the western shore of the lake, although 'Armboth' still appears on some signposts.


Geology

The Birker Fell Formation (
plagioclase Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continu ...
-phyric
andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
lavas) predominates, overlain by
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
. To the east of the summit are outcrops of
garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...
bearing
porphyritic Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning ...
andesite.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)


Summit

A small rock outcrop forms the summit, complete with a
cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...
. A further knoll to the northeast is of similar altitude. Much of the fell, particularly towards the main watershed, is very wet underfoot and the heather makes progress even more laborious. There are views east to the
Helvellyn Helvellyn (; possible #Names, meaning: ''pale yellow moorland'') is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere a ...
range and westward over the main ridge to the higher fells where a great sweep from
Grisedale Pike Grisedale Pike is a fell in the Lake District, Cumbria, England, situated west of the town of Keswick in the north-western sector of the national park. At a height of it is the 40th-highest Wainwright in the Lake District; it also qual ...
to
Bowfell Bowfell (named ''Bow Fell'' on Ordnance Survey maps) is a pyramid-shaped mountain lying at the heart of the English Lake District, in the Southern Fells area. It is the eighth-highest mountain in the Lake District and one of the most popula ...
can be seen. Fisher Crag presents a better viewpoint for Thirlmere.


Ascents

To quote Wainwright "walkers of a contrary turn of mind will summarily reject the advice to leave Armboth Fell well alone, and may indeed be strengthened in their determination to climb it." From the public car park at Armboth a track can be followed up the south bank of Fisher Gill. This leads into the trees, emerging behind Fisher Crag. From here on there is no path. Launchy Gill does not provide access to the open fell, the forest fence being a substantial barrier, but from further south at the Dob Gill car park the bridleway to Watendlath can be used to gain the main ridge between
Ullscarf Ullscarf is a fell in the English Lake District close to the geographical centre of the Cumbrian hills. It forms part of the watershed between the Derwentwater and Thirlmere catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south. Topography Ullsc ...
and High Tove, before striking north to the summit.


Protected Area

Armboth Fells was designated as a
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
(SSSI) in 1986 because of the high altitude woodland present that includes birch and hazel within the 5.8 acre site. Part of the land area designated as Armboth Fells SSSI is owned by
United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU) is the United Kingdom's largest listed water company. It was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West En ...
and part is owned by the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust Cumbria Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Cumbria, in North West England. It runs more than 40 nature reserves, and aims to broaden the awareness and knowledge of the wildlife in the county. History The trust was establis ...
has been involved in peatland restoration within this protected area.


References

{{Authority control Fells of the Lake District