Broom Fell is a hill with the status of a Wainwright in the

English Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mountains, and for its literary associati ...

. It lies on a ridge connecting

Lord's Seat Lord's Seat is a fell 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 fam ...

and

Graystones Graystones is a fell in the England, English Lake District. It lies in the North Western Fells region and is one of the peaks on the ridge which encircles the valley of Aiken Beck. Name According to Alfred Wainwright the name Graystones prop ...

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 ...

provided it's status as a separate

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 his influential guidebook series, the ''

Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'' is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells (the local word for hills and mountains) of the Lake District in northwest England. Written over a period of 13 years from 1952, they ...

''.

: ''

A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'' is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells (the local word for hills and mountains) of the Lake District in northwest England. Written over a period of 13 years from 1952, they ...

, Book 6, The North Western Fells'': Westmorland Gazette (1964):

Topography

The North Western Fells occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north–south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. The most northerly sector, rising between

Whinlatter Pass The Whinlatter Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5292 road linking Braithwaite, to the west of Keswick, with High Lorton to the south of Cockermouth. To the north the pass is flanked ...

and the Vale of Embleton, includes Broom Fell.

, is the highest of the fells north of Whinlatter and sends out a long ridge westwards. The ridge begins with a marshy depression before rising to the summit of Broom Fell. It then continues west to the more pronounced saddle of Widow Hause, beyond which is Graystones. Widow Hause, is densely forested on the southern side with the conifers of the Darling How Plantation. To the south of Broom Fell, is the pleasant valley of Aiken Beck, heavily wooded in its lower reaches. This secluded dale lies between the main ridge and Whinlatter Fell, draining to the west and ultimately reaching the Cocker. Hidden within the Darling How Plantation, is the fine waterfall of Spout Force. On the northern flank of Broom Fell, is Burthwaite Heights (1,043 ft), listed as a separate top in some guidebooks.Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': Collins Willow (1994): This is a small hill beside the vast morass of Wythop. Wythop Moss itself lies to the west and drains (slowly) via Tom Rudd Beck. To the east of Burthwaite Heights, runs the valley of Wythop Beck, emptying rather more effectively between the twin hills of Ling Fell and Sale Fell.

Geology

The predominant rock is the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

Kirk Stile Formation of the Skiddaw Group. This consists of laminated

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

and

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

. To the south of the summit are outcrops of

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)

Summit

The top is grassy, and the summit is marked by the end of a wall coming up from Aiken Beck to the southwest. Since this wall connects to no others, and simply stops at the highest point, its purpose is unknown. A summit cairn of approximately 2m in height now exists on the summit as does a small wind shelter made from part of the wall. The view southward takes in the Whiteside- Grisedale Pike ridge and the

Grasmoor Grasmoor is a mountain in the north-western part of the Lake District, northern England. It is the highest peak in a group of hills between the villages of Lorton, Cumbria, Lorton, Braithwaite and Buttermere, and overlooks Crummock Water. Grasm ...

fells showing behind. To the North-West, towards

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

and

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

, the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

and beyond the peak of Criffel in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

are seen on clear days. To the East,

framed by the

Skiddaw Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. Its summit is traditionally considered to be the List of Wainwrights, fourth-highest peak but depending on what topographic prominence is thought to be significant is also ...

group of hills.

Ascents

From Wythop Mill a crossing of Wythop Moss can be made, using the old path which gives drier footing. Once the marsh is passed an ascent up the northern slope of Widow Hause leads to the ridge. The alternative is to make use of Aiken Beck, a car park being available near Scawgill Bridge on the Whinlatter Pass road. From the valley the southern slopes of Broom Fell can be tackled direct. A 4.3 km route can be taken from the Whinlatter visitor's center through Ullister Hill and Lord's Seat.

References

{{North Western Fells Fells of the Lake District