Gibson Knott 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 ...

, an intermediate height on the ridge between Greenburn and Far Easedale 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 ...

Topography

The spine of the Central Fells runs on a north–south axis with the highpoint at High Raise. A complex system of daleheads to the east of this apex resolves itself into Calf Crag, a broad-topped ridge featuring a number of rocky tops. This ridge then splits into two arms about the head of Greenburn, the southern branch running on to Gibson Knott and

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 ...

. Between Calf Crag and Helm Crag the ridge narrows to perhaps a hundred yards in width, gradually curving to the south east on its one and a half mile course. There are several tops on this section, Gibson Knott being halfway along. The southern face above Far Easedale is rocky, Horn Crag being the principal feature. The northern side drops more gradually to the upper gathering grounds of Greenburn Bottom. There is little loss of height going westward from the summit before the climb to Calf Crag begins on a broadening ridge. Between Gibson Knott and Helm Crag lies the depression of Bracken Hause at around 1,100 ft.

Geology

The summit knolls are laminated

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 ...

claystone Mudrocks are a class of fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include siltstone, claystone, mudstone and shale. Most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than and are too small to ...

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 ...

of the Esk Pike Formation. The remainder of the ridge top is composed of dacitic

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 ...

.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheets 29, 38'': BGS (1999) There is no history of mining within the area of the fell.

Summit

There being a couple of rocky knolls of similar height the summit point could be debated, but custom and practice has resulted in 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 ...

on the western outcrop.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003): There is an all round view although perhaps not as expansive as could be expected from the centre of the District.It can be improved slightly by moving east along the ridge.

Ascents

The fell is most commonly climbed as part of a circuit of Greenburn following a good path, but ascents from Grasmere via either flank of Bracken Hause are also possible.

References

{{Central Fells Fells of the Lake District