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Hindscarth is a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
between the valleys of
Buttermere Buttermere is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. It has a length of approximately and a maximum width of , an area of , a maximum depth of , and a surface elevation of above sea level. Its primary outflow is Buttermere Dubs, a ...
and
Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...
, in the north-western part 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 ...
. The fell's name is derived from two words from the
Old Norse language Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...
, ''Hind'' and ''Skarth'', and means the pass used by the red deer.


Topography

The
North Western Fells The North Western Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Including such favourites as Catbells and Grisedale Pike, they occupy an oval area beneath the Buttermere and Borrowdale valley systems. The North We ...
occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. Hindscarth stands in the southern sector. The principal ridge in this group of fells runs east from Buttermere, climbing over
Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...
, Hindscarth and
Dale Head Dale Head is a fell in the north-western sector of the Lake District, in northern England. It is above sea level and stands immediately north of Honister Pass, the road between Borrowdale and Buttermere. Topography The North-Western Fells oc ...
. It then turns north, descending gradually toward
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 ...
, the main tops being
High Spy High Spy is a fell in the England, English Lake District it is situated on the ridge that separates the Newlands Valley from Borrowdale, eight kilometres (five miles) south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. Topography The fell reaches a height ...
,
Maiden Moor Maiden Moor is a fell in the English Lake District, it stands south of the town of Keswick and is part of the high ground that separates the Newlands Valley and Borrowdale; it has a modest height of and so fails to be mentioned on many UK ...
and
Catbells Cat Bells is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It has a height of and is one of the most popular fells in the area. It is situated on the western shore of Derwentwater within of the busy tourist town of Keswick. ...
. The ridge from Robinson to Dale Head forms the heads of Little Dale and Newlands, bypassing the intervening summit of Hindscarth. This stands off to the north, forming the dividing wall between the two valleys. The long north-west ridge steps down over several tiers of crag to the confluence of its bordering streams. The southern face of Hindscarth looks down over
Honister Pass Honister Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5289 road, linking Seatoller, in the valley of Borrowdale, to Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere. The pass reaches an elevation of ...
.


Ascents

A popular ascent starts from a parking area nearby
Newlands Church Newlands Church is a 16th-century church situated less than 500 metres west of the hamlet of Little Town, Cumbria, England in the Newlands Valley of the Lake District. Its exact date of origin is unknown, but a map of 1576 shows a "Newlande Cha ...
and passes over the Scope End ridge before continuing up crags to the summit. Due to their proximity, Hindscarth and
Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...
are often combined into a single walk starting from Newlands. The fell is also part of a longer walk including
Catbells Cat Bells is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It has a height of and is one of the most popular fells in the area. It is situated on the western shore of Derwentwater within of the busy tourist town of Keswick. ...
,
High Spy High Spy is a fell in the England, English Lake District it is situated on the ridge that separates the Newlands Valley from Borrowdale, eight kilometres (five miles) south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. Topography The fell reaches a height ...
,
Dale Head Dale Head is a fell in the north-western sector of the Lake District, in northern England. It is above sea level and stands immediately north of Honister Pass, the road between Borrowdale and Buttermere. Topography The North-Western Fells oc ...
and along the ''Littledale Edge'' ridge to Robinson — the
Newlands horseshoe The Newlands horseshoe is a circular walk in the Lake District, incorporating the main peaks surrounding the Newlands Valley. Standard round The regular horseshoe covers six peaks, and approximately of walking. It includes the fells Catbells (45 ...
.


Geology

Hindscarth is an example of the Buttermere Formation, an
olistostrome An olistostrome is a sedimentary deposit composed of a chaotic mass of heterogeneous material, such as blocks and mud, known as olistoliths, that accumulates as a semifluid body by submarine (geology), submarine gravity sliding or Slump (geology ...
of disrupted, sheared and folded
mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)


Mining

The northern ridge of Hindscarth which falls away to the Newlands valley has at its foot (at Scope End) one of the most famous former
mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...
in the Lake District. The Goldscope mine has been designated as a major national important site by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
who have stated that it should receive priority treatment for its protection and preservation. The mine was opened in 1564 and developed in its early days by German miners, who worked its rich veins of
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 ...
and
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
. The mine was considered so important in its early days that it was requisitioned for the Crown by
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
from its then-owner, the
Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...
. There are considerable spoil heaps on the Newlands Beck side of Scope End and the shaft inside the hillside was sunk to such a considerable depth that it became uneconomical to pump out the water, leading to the closure of the mine at the end of the 19th century.


Summit

The summit carries an untidy
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 ...
amid some embedded rocks. Elsewhere there are patches of grass and gravel. A hundred yards south is a larger cairn, marked as a Shelter on
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 ...
maps. The view north into the Newlands Valley is excellent, backed by
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 ...
. All of the major fell groups with the exception of
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
can be seen.


References

*
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 6, The North Western Fells'': Westmorland Gazette (1964): * Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': Collins Willow (1994): {{North Western Fells Hewitts of England Fells of the Lake District Nuttalls Cumberland (unitary authority)