Hutton Roof Crags is a hill in southeastern

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

in northwest England, located near to the village of Hutton Roof. It has extensive areas of

limestone pavement A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial Sidewalk, pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have devel ...

as well as

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. The hill forms the Hutton Roof Crags

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

and is part of the

Morecambe Bay Pavements Morecambe Bay Pavements is a multi-site Special Area of Conservation comprising limestone pavements around Morecambe Bay in North-West England. It was designated in 2005 under the Habitats Directive. The SAC does not include any marine areas; Mo ...

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

. A significant proportion of the UK's of limestone pavement is to be found on Hutton Roof Crags and the neighbouring Farleton Knott. Although part of the hill is pasture grazed by sheep and part is forested, much remains open

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, and it is here that most of the limestone pavement is to be found. However, much has been removed over the years for many purposes including building, agricultural fertiliser, and production of millstones, but is now protected by law and it is an offence to remove any. The limestone is over thick, and was laid down during the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

period some 350 million years ago. The limestone pavements here occupy an intermediate position between the low-lying pavements of Gait Barrows some to the west, and those on

Ingleborough Ingleborough () is the List of peaks in the Yorkshire Dales, second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks (the other two being Whernside and Pen-y-ghent), and is frequently climbed as part of ...

, to the east. Hutton Roof National Nature Reserve is managed by

Cumbria Wildlife Trust Cumbria Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Cumbria, in North West England. It runs more than 40 nature reserves, and aims to broaden the awareness and knowledge of the wildlife in the county. History The trust was establis ...

, which leases Park Wood and Hutton Roof Common from

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

and Hutton Roof Parish Council respectively. Plants including angular Solomon's seal (''Polygonatum odoratum''), limestone fern (''Gymnocarpium robertianum''), and dark red helleborine (''Epipactis atrorubens'') are to be found on the pavement. The nationally scarce rigid buckler-fern (''Dryopteris submontana'') is abundant on Hutton Roof Crags. Blue moor-grass (''Sesleria caerulea'') is also nationally scarce but abundant here. The name Hutton Roof Crags is believed to derive from the

Old English language 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- ...

, and means ‘crags on hill near farmstead of Rolf’. Access is possible via the public footpath running across the north of the fell, but is probably easier through the woods to the south-west. The extensive low limestone outcrops make the Hutton Roof Crags a popular site for

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

.
UK Climbing Logbook.

References

{{coord, 54.19133, N, 2.68196, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SD556775), display=title Marilyns of England Mountains and hills of Cumbria Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria Nature reserves of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust National nature reserves in England