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Great Dodd (meaning: ''big round hill'') is a mountain or
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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
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 ...
. It stands on the main ridge of the
Helvellyn range The Helvellyn range is the name given to a part of the Eastern Fells in the English Lake District, "fell" being the local word for "hill". The name comes from Helvellyn, the highest summit of the group. The Helvellyn range forms a ridge exte ...
, a line of mountains which runs in a north–south direction between the lakes 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 ...
and
Ullswater Ullswater is a glacial lake in Cumbria, England and part of the Lake District National Park. It is the second largest lake in the region by both area and volume, after Windermere. The lake is about long, wide, and has a maximum depth of . I ...
in the east of the Lake District. Great Dodd, with a height of is the highest of the fells in this range to the north of
Sticks Pass Hill passes of the Lake District were originally used by people in one valley travelling to another nearby without having to go many miles around a steep ridge of intervening hills. Historically, in the Lake District of northwest England, trave ...
. Walkers may approach Great Dodd from either High Row near Dockray to the east, or from Legburthwaite to the west – or along the main ridge track from either north or south. Scramblers with climbing skills may be attracted to three
gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...
climbs on the western side of the mountain. The summit of Great Dodd is a smooth, grassy, rounded dome, like its two southern neighbours,
Watson's Dodd Watson's Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District, a minor rise on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, but a prominent shoulder on the west side of that range. At its foot is the imposing crag of Castle Rock, on whic ...
and
Stybarrow Dodd Stybarrow Dodd (''the hill of the steep path'') is a mountain or fell in the England, English Lake District. It stands immediately north of Sticks Pass on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, which is situated between the ...
. Together, these three are sometimes called ‘The Three Dodds’. These three are made of volcanic rocks of the
Borrowdale Volcanic Group The Borrowdale Volcanic Group is a group of igneous rock formations named after the Borrowdale area of the Lake District, in England. They are Caradocian (late Ordovician) in age (roughly 450 million years old). It is thought that they represen ...
, and the tops of all three are covered by the same sheet of rock, which was formed in a series of huge volcanic explosions accompanying the formation of a volcanic
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
about 450 million years ago. Two attempts were made to mine mineral veins in the rocks of Great Dodd, but neither attempt was successful.


Topography

Three ridges lead from the rounded summit of Great Dodd. The west ridge leads over the shoulder called Little Dodd, and then turns north-west to the rocky pinnacle of Calfhow Pike and to the col separating Great Dodd from
Clough Head Clough Head () (meaning: ''hill-top above the ravine'') is a fell, or hill, in the English Lake District. It marks the northern end of the main ridge of the Helvellyn range and is often walked as part of the ridge walk. The fell stands south ...
. Calfhow Pike would have little significance in more rugged areas of the Lake District, but here in the midst of smooth green slopes it is a conspicuous landmark visible for miles around. Although it has little prominence, it is a pleasant top giving good views of the surrounding grassy slopes and the valleys below. A short south-west ridge leads to Watson's Dodd, where it merges with the north-west ridge of Stybarrow Dodd to drop into the valley at
Legburthwaite Legburthwaite is a village in the Cumberland district, in the county of Cumbria. It is located on the A591 road and the B5322 road. Legburthwaite has a disused place of worship and formerly, a youth hostel. It is just north of Thirlmere ...
. To the north-east a long ridge leads to the subsidiary stony top of Randerside (). From there it broadens into Matterdale Common, becoming steadily wetter underfoot, before splitting into two on either side of Groove Beck. The more southerly ridge heads over High Brow (), fringed by Dowthwaite Crag which broods over the road-end settlement of Dowthwaitehead. The further tops of Low How () and Cockley Moor () are passed before this branch of the ridge peters out in extensive conifer plantations, and then the ground climbs again to Great Mell Fell. The northern branch of the ridge is edged by Wolf Crags above the Old Coach Road, beyond which a wide grassy moor sweeps north across Sandbeds Moss and Flaska to the
A66 road The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. The road has been progressively ...
and the dismantled Penrith to Keswick railway.Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map Great Dodd stands on the
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 ...
between the Eden river system to the east and the Derwent river system to the west. Its western slopes used to drain into St John's Beck, a tributary of the River Greta, which in turn joins the River Derwent at Keswick. When Thirlmere Reservoir was constructed in the late 19th century, two of Great Dodd's western streams, Ladknott Gill and Mill Gill, were captured by a water
leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...
and diverted into the new reservoir.
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 ...
: ''
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 1: The Eastern Fells'': London: Frances Lincoln (2003)
955 Year 955 ( CMLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: King Otto I ("the Great") defeats the Hungarians (also known as Magyars) near Augsburg (Germa ...
The northern slopes of Great Dodd drain either into Mosedale and Mosedale Beck or into
Trout Beck The Trout Beck is a fast flowing stream of the Lake District in North West England. It is one of the main sources of replenishment for Windermere, and is part of the River Leven, Cumbria, Leven catchment. Its name comes from Old Norse and appea ...
. These also flow into the River Greta (via the River Glenderamackin) and then to the Derwent. However, the eastern and southern slopes of Great Dodd drain into Deepdale and Aira Beck, which flows into
Ullswater Ullswater is a glacial lake in Cumbria, England and part of the Lake District National Park. It is the second largest lake in the region by both area and volume, after Windermere. The lake is about long, wide, and has a maximum depth of . I ...
. The lake drains into the
River Eamont The River Eamont is a river in Cumbria, England and one of the major tributaries of the River Eden. The name of the river is from Old English (ēa-gemōt) and is a back formation from Eamont Bridge which means the ''junction of streams.'' T ...
, which then joins the River Eden near Penrith. The beck in Deepdale undergoes a number of name changes. Beginning as Browndale Beck as it flows through the
hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...
of Deepdale, it becomes Rush Gill as it drops to Dowthwaitehead, and is then called Aira Beck. This is the head stream for the famous waterfall of
Aira Force Aira Force is a waterfall in the English Lake District, in the civil parish of Matterdale and the county of Cumbria. The site of the waterfall is owned by the National Trust. Description The stream flowing over the waterfall is Aira Beck, which ...
, a popular tourist sight. Similarly, Groove Beck, which rises on Matterdale Common, the north-east ridge of Great Dodd, becomes Thornsgill Beck and then Trout Beck, before joining the River Glenderamackin. There are no tarns on Great Dodd, and very few exposures of rock. Small crags do line the lower western slopes above
St John's in the Vale St John’s in the Vale is a glacial valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. Within the vale are a number of farms and small settlements, in addition to several disused quarry and mining works. St John’s Beck meanders nort ...
. Lad Knott is the most prominent of these, and the deep ravine of Mill Gill also exposes the rock. On the north-east ridge Randerside, Wolf Crags and Dowthwaite Crag all display the rocks.


Routes

Nearly all of Great Dodd (above the intake walls in the valleys) is
Open Access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
land. The north-east ridge is part of Matterdale Common, 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 ...
. Ascents of Great Dodd can begin either from Legburthwaite to the west, or from High Row (near Dockray) to the east. Parking is available at both places. From Legburthwaite several routes are possible. A path above the ravine of Mill Gill, on its north side, leads to the cairn on Little Dodd. Ladknott Gill can be followed upwards. Or the old shepherds’ path leads from above Fornside to Calfhow Pike. There is no public access to this from Fornside, but it can be reached by following the intake wall north from Mill Gill. For scramblers with climbing skills and a rope, three gills on the west side of Great Dodd are accessible: Mill Gill, Beckthorns Gill and the deeply recessed Sandbed Gill. Walkers should keep out of the gills themselves. From High Row the direct route leads up the north-east ridge, over Low How, High Brow and Randerside. Alternative routes begin by following the Old Coach Road, either to the path alongside Groove Beck and up Randerside, or into Mosedale from near the Mariel Bridge and up to Calfhow Pike. This unsurfaced road provides a fine walking route from Dockray around the northern end of the Helvellyn range to the Vale of St John. The close up view of Wolf Crags is particularly good. Great Dodd may also be included in a circular walk around Deepdale known as The Dodds. Or it may be included in a ridge walk, along the main Helvellyn ridge. The ridge path in either direction is broad and clear, with a shortcut contouring to the west of Great Dodd's summit which suggests that many ridge walkers bypass the summit.


Summit

The summit area of Great Dodd is a short rounded ridge, covered with grass but with many stones lying among it, and with the highest point at the north-west end where there is 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 ...
. This was not present in 1955 when
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 ...
published his Pictorial Guide. The original cairn is a substantial affair, about south of the highest point, and it incorporates a wind shelter. Confusingly, the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale Landranger map gives a
spot height A spot height is an exact point on a map with an elevation recorded beside it that represents its height above a given datum.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 506. . In the UK this is the Ordnan ...
of 856 m at the south-eastern shelter cairn,Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map while the 1:25,000 Explorer map gives a height of 857 m at the north-eastern cairn. There is a good view all round, though this lacks foreground when seen from the summit because of the gently rounded nature of the fell. Better views may be had by walking a short distance from the summit in any direction. Much of the Lake District, the hills of south-west Scotland, the Eden Valley and the Pennine Hills may be seen on a clear day. Another small cairn lies part way down the western slope on the path to Clough Head, marking the minor top of Little Dodd.


Geology

The rocks of Great Dodd are all part of the
Borrowdale Volcanic Group The Borrowdale Volcanic Group is a group of igneous rock formations named after the Borrowdale area of the Lake District, in England. They are Caradocian (late Ordovician) in age (roughly 450 million years old). It is thought that they represen ...
, formed on the margin of an ancient continent during a period of intense volcanic activity, roughly 450 million years ago in 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 ...
Period. P. Stone et al. ''British Regional Geology: Northern England'': British Geological Survey, Nottingham (2010) D. G. Woodhall, ''Geology of the Keswick District'' (Sheet Explanation of BGS Sheet E029), British Geological Survey, Nottingham (2000) Within that Group, the bulk of the rocks forming the fell belong to the Birker Fell Andesite Formation. These rocks are among the earliest of the volcanic rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, and are part of a thick succession of
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 ...
sheets which now outcrop in a wide band around the western and northern sides of the Lake District, and probably underlie much of the other volcanic rocks. These sheets were formed by successive eruptions of mobile andesitic lava from shallow-sided volcanoes. The composition of the erupting magma varied from time to time, with
domes A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
of more viscous
dacite 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. ...
occurring in a number of places. Calfhow Pike, Randerside and High Brow are all shown as dacite on the geological map. - may be viewed on the or on the BGS's iGeology smartphone app Individual lava flows may be separated by beds of
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, sedimentary deposits formed from the erosion of the volcanic rocks and deposited by streams, floods and possibly wind. The geological map shows a number of areas of volcaniclastic sandstone on the western slopes of Great Dodd, above Beckthorns and Fornside. After the eruptions of the Birker Fell Formation, the composition of the erupting magma changed from largely andesitic to predominantly
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. ...
, and as a result the nature of the volcanism became more explosive. A number of
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
volcanoes were formed. In the area to the north of Sticks Pass the Birker Fell andesites are overlain by the Lincomb Tarns Tuff Formation. This
formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...
is one of the most widespread of the volcanic rocks of the Lake District; it seems that the whole district was buried beneath at least of densely welded
ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...
, a rock formed from a
pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...
of very hot gas and rock. This formation must represent a series of eruptions of truly exceptional magnitude, accompanying the formation of a volcanic
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
probably in the area around what is now Helvellyn. On Great Dodd this formation is represented by rocks of the Thirlmere Tuff Member, which covers the top of the fell with a thick sheet of welded rhyo-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 ...
in which the individual pieces of semi-molten lava were flattened under the weight of deposits above them. This rock weathers to a white or pink colour, but it is covered by the smooth grassy turf characteristic of Great Dodd, Watson's Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd, all of which are covered by the same sheet. Towards the end of, or after the cessation of the volcanic activity, a large granite
batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...
was emplaced beneath the volcanic rocks of the Lake District. Associated with the granite batholith was the creation of numerous mineral veins. There is evidence of historic mining activity in two locations on Great Dodd in efforts to exploit such mineral veins. Fornside Mine on the western slopes consisted of two levels, one of which shows signs of copper ore, the other was on a barren quartz vein. At the base of Wolf Crags there are the remains of a short level long on a poor quartz vein. There are no historical records of this level. It may be assumed that both mines were commercial failures.


Names

Great Dodd may originally have been ''Dodd Fell'', the name shown on Donald's map of 1771 and Ford's map of 1839, though it is not known in pre-18th century sources. It did not need to be distinguished from its neighbours since Stybarrow Dodd seems to have been known in earlier times simply as ''Stybarrow'', and
Watson's Dodd Watson's Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District, a minor rise on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, but a prominent shoulder on the west side of that range. At its foot is the imposing crag of Castle Rock, on whic ...
is probably only an 18th-century name. Dod or dodd is a dialect word of unknown origin, but common in hill names in the Lake District and the Scottish Borders for bare rounded summits, either free standing or subsidiary shoulders to higher neighbours.Diana Whaley, ''A Dictionary of Lake District Place-Names'', English Place-Name Society 2006, Peter Drummond, ''Scottish Hill Names'', Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 2010, Calfhow Pike was referred to as ''Calfhou'' in a 13th-century source, and ''pyke of Cauvey'' in the 16th century. This appears to be ‘the peak of Calf Hill’, from
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''pīc'', a peak, and ''how'' (from the
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''haugr''), a hill. The name here probably refers to
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
calving. Randerside was first recorded by the
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 ...
in 1867. Without earlier sources it is unclear whether ''side'' here simply means ‘hillside’ or comes from an earlier Old Norse ''sætr'', "shieling", or ''sæti'', "seat". A different Randerside in Cumbria was ''Randolfsete'' in 1285, "Randolf’s shieling."


References

{{Eastern Fells


See also

*
List of hills in the Lake District This is a list of hills in the Lake District. To avoid the list becoming infinitely long and arbitrary, only hills with more than 30 m relative height (rising over ) are included. This includes most, but not all, Wainwrights as well as many o ...
* List of fells in the Lake District Hewitts of England Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls