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 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 ...

, standing to the west of

Haweswater Reservoir Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a local act o ...

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. ...

. Note that another High Raise is the highpoint of 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

High Raise is on the main north-south spine of the Far Eastern Fells between Wether Hill and Rampsgill Head. Its eastern slopes drop to Haweswater and its western flank is the steep scree-lined side of Rampsgill. The main ridge north to Wether Hill passes over the two intermediate tops of Raven Howe () and Red Crag (), before dropping to the depression of Keasgill Head. This ridge is grassy but quite narrow and carries the High Street Roman road. There is a small tarn to the south of Red Crag. In the other direction the ridge turns a little westward across a narrow depression to Rampsgill Head. East of High Raise, about half a mile away, is its companion Low Raise (). This broad top carries a

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

of bleached stones, some of which have since been used to form a cairn and wind shelter. The stones do not appear native to their location. East of Low Raise the craggy bowl of Whelter Crags is gouged out of the hillside above the reservoir. Two ridges run north and south around it to the shore. The more extensive north-east ridge, Long Grain, curves around between Measand Beck and Whelter Bottom. Its top begins as a wide plateau before giving way to crags above Haweswater. The south-east ridge gradually narrows, becoming rockier before taking a final plunge over Castle Crag. This is the site of an ancient hill-fort and some earthworks are just about discernible. South of this ridge, separating it from Kidsty Pike, is Randale.

Summit

The summit of High Raise is stony, particularly in comparison to its neighbours, and a large

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 ...

has been raised up a few yards east of the Roman road. The views westward provide a fine Lakeland panorama.

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 2:

Ascents

Ascents can be made from Martindale to the north or from Mardale via the south east and north east ridges. High Raise can also be climbed as part of a longer walk from

Patterdale Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is in the eastern part of the Lake District, and the name is also used for the long valley in which the villa ...

Hartsop Hartsop is a small village in the English Lake District. It lies in the Patterdale valley, near Brothers Water, Hayeswater and Kirkstone Pass. It consists of 17th-century grey stone cottages, like so many of its neighbours. Hartsop retains it ...

or Bampton, but other fells need to be ascended first. There are few good paths on the fell, other than the High Street. This is due in part to the loss of Mardale Green village when the lake was raised in the mid 1930s.

References

{{Far Eastern Fells Fells of the Lake District Hewitts of England Nuttalls Martindale, Cumbria