High Raise 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

Central Fells The Central Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Reaching their highest point at High Raise (2,500 ft or 762 metres), they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. The Central Fells are gen ...

of 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 ...

, not to be confused with another High Raise situated in the

Far Eastern Fells The Far Eastern Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Reaching their highest point at High Street (828 metres or 2.718 ft.), they occupy a broad area to the east of Ullswater and Kirkstone Pass. ...

. High Raise is one of the least spectacular mountains in the district; but with a height of it is the highest point in the central fells of Lakeland. High Raise is in fact commonly regarded as the most central mountain in the district and this position gives a fine viewpoint to admire the surrounding mountains and beyond. All of England's mountains (

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 ...

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 ...

and the

Scafells The Scafells, or Scafell Massif, are a range of fells in the Cumbrian Mountains of England, made up of the remains of a caldera volcano. Fells in the range include Broad Crag, Ill Crag, Scafell, and Scafell Pike, England's tallest mountain. G ...

) can be well seen from the summit while the more distant views include the Three Peaks in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

at and

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

at .

Summit

The summit itself, which is also known as High White Stones due to a smattering of grey boulders in the vicinity of the highest point, has an

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

and a large cairn which also doubles as a wind shelter; a ruined fence also crosses the summit plateau.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003): The view is extensive as befits the central location with all major fell groups visible. The only disappointment being the

Langdale Pikes Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in North West England, the epithet "Great" distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale. Langdale is also the name of a valley in the Howgill Fells, elsewhere ...

, which seen from behind lack most of their distinctiveness. No lakes are seen other than short sections of

Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is a body of water in the Lake District in North West England, near the town of Keswick. It has an area of , making the fourth largest of the lakes in the region. The lake has a length of approximately long and maximum wid ...

and

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 ...

Ascents

Ascents of High Raise are usually done from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale or the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Great Langdale, although routes are also viable from Grasmere and

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 ...

. The Stonethwaite approach gives the walker a chance to climb the neighbouring fell of

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 ...

, while the route from Great Langdale allows visits to the splendid Langdale Pikes either before or after climbing High Raise.

Topography

The fell is the meeting-point of many

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

s. The main watershed of the Central Fells can be thought of as a 'L' shape with High Raise, the highest point, standing at the corner. The northern ridge continues over

and High Seat towards the low fells above Keswick. South-eastward the spine continues over

Blea Rigg Blea Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, lying between the valleys of Easedale and Great Langdale. One of the Central Fells, it is a broad plateau with a succession of rocky tops. Many routes of ascent are possible, beginning either fro ...

and

Silver How Silver How is a fell in the English Lake District, standing over the village of Grasmere. How, derived from the Old Norse word ''haugr'', is a common local term for a hill or mound. Topography Silver How forms part of the Blea Rigg ridge and ...

, terminating at Loughrigg Fell above Grasmere and

Rydal Water Rydal Water is a small body of water in the central part of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is located near the hamlet of Rydal, between Grasmere and Ambleside in the Rothay Valley.Parker, 2004, page 35 The lake is 1, ...

. To the east there are a number of subsidiary ridges, diverging from Sergeant Man. This rocky top is a part of High Raise, but is considered by many writers as a separate fell because of its appearance. Beyond lie

Calf Crag Calf Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, on the eastern side of the High Raise massif. Topography The spine of the Central Fells runs on a north–south axis with the high point at High Raise. A complex system of daleheads to the east ...

Gibson Knott Gibson Knott is a fell in the English Lake District, an intermediate height on the ridge between Greenburn and Far Easedale in the Central Fells. Topography The spine of the Central Fells runs on a north–south axis with the highpoint at High ...

Helm Crag Helm Crag is a fell in the English Lake District situated in the Central Fells to the north of Grasmere (village), Grasmere. Despite its low height it sits prominently at the end of a ridge, easily seen from the village. This, combined with the ...

, Steel Fell and Tarn Crag. South of High Raise lie its most famous offspring, the

. These picturesque craggy heights form the parapet of High Raise's southern plateau, standing atop the valley wall and the centrepiece of many views.

Geology

High White Stones is an outcrop of the Lincomb Tarns Formation. This consists of

dacitic Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

welded

lapilli tuff Lapilli (: lapillus) is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range from in diam ...

and

volcaniclastic Volcaniclastics are geologic materials composed of broken fragments (clasts) of volcanic rock. These encompass all clastic volcanic materials, regardless of what process fragmented the rock, how it was subsequently transported, what environment it ...

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 ...

. These rocks are 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 ...

over the rest of the summit area.

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

1:50,000 series maps: Sheet 38: BGS (1998)

References

{{Marilyns N Eng Marilyns of England Hewitts of England Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls