Fountains Fell is a mountain 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 ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The main summit () has a height of and a relative height or
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...
of and thus qualifies as a
Marilyn. Its subsidiary, Fountains Fell South Top () reaches and qualifies as a
Nuttall. A third summit, further south at , reaches and is the most southerly 2,000 ft summit in the
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
.
The eastern slopes of the fell form part of 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 ...
's Malham Tarn and Moor estate.
History
The name ''Fountains'' derives from ownership of the land in the 13th century by the
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
monks of
Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercians, Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operat ...
( to the east, near
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...
), who used it for sheep grazing.
[ ]Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
was mined on the summit from 1790 to 1860, and was used for lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
in the area.[ There are various pits and shafts on and near the summit, and the remains of a coke oven building.]
Pennine Way
The Pennine Way
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...
crosses Fountains Fell about a third of a mile north of the summit. For the northbound walker this is from the start of the way at Edale, and is the first point where the way climbs higher than Kinder Scout
Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and National nature reserve (United Kingdom), National Nature Reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak Distric ...
's which was reached soon after the start. It is along the Pennine Way from Malham
Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places".
Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...
village to the summit of Fountains Fell, the route climbing up beside the dramatic cliffs of Malham Cove
Malham Cove is a large curved limestone formation north of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It was formed by a waterfall carrying meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last Last glacial period, Ice Age more than 12,000 year ...
and passing Malham Tarn
Malham Tarn is a glacial lake near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, England. The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe. At an altitude of above sea level it is the highest marl lake in the United Kingdom. It ...
before climbing up the east side of the fell. The route continues down the western slopes of the fell and ascends the southern ridge of Pen-y-ghent
Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geolo ...
, reached after : this summit of then supplants Fountains Fell as the highest point yet reached on the Pennine Way.
Caving
There are several caves of interest to cavers on Fountains Fell, including Antler Hole, Dalehead Pot, Echo Hole, Fornagh Gill, Gingling Pot, Hammer Pot and Magnetometer Pot.
See also
* Fountains Fell Tarn, a natural lake between the two peaks on Fountains Fell
References
External links
{{Marilyns N Eng
Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales
Marilyns of England
Hewitts of England
Nuttalls
Craven District
Malham