Rampsgill Head 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. ...

. It forms the focal point of three ridges which fan out north-east, north-west and south.

Topography

The spine of the Far Eastern Fells, travelling north from

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 ...

, crosses the Straits of Riggindale and then collides head-on with the steep U-shaped valley of Rampsgill which comes south to meet it. The ridge splits in two, sending one arm around each side of Rampsgill and the Martindale valley system of which this forms part. The north-western branch leads over the fells of

The Knott The Knott is a fell in the English Lake District, standing above Hayeswater in the Far Eastern Fells. It is an outlier of Rampsgill Head, being the high point of the ridge from there to Rest Dodd. Topography The ridge from Rampsgill Head tr ...

and

Rest Dodd Rest Dodd is a fell in the England, English Lake District. It is situated in the quieter Far Eastern Fells, far eastern region of the national park and reaches a height of . Rest Dodd is a fell that is often by-passed by walkers as they travel th ...

, finally reaching

Place Fell Place Fell is a mountain in the English Lake District. It stands at the corner of the upper and middle reaches of Ullswater, with steep western flanks overlooking the villages of Glenridding and Patterdale. Topography A horseshoe of high gr ...

above the head of

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 north-eastern branch continues the main ridge of the Far Eastern Fells, running over High Raise and ending near the foot of Ullswater at Heughescar Hill. Between these two embracing arms are the valleys of

Boredale Boredale sometimes known as Boardale, is a valley within Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, England. The valley is close to the eastern shore of Ullswater and lies between the hills of Place Fell to the west and Beda Fell to the east. B ...

, Bannerdale, Rampsgill and Fusedale, collectively known as Martindale. Rampsgill Head stands at the junction of these three ridges, with the summit a little to the north-east.

Kidsty Pike Kidsty Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, standing to the west of Haweswater Reservoir. It is a subsidiary top of Rampsgill Head, but has long achieved the status of a separate fell, thanks to its classic peaked profile. Wainwright f ...

, a subsidiary top to the east, is given separate fell status by Wainwright in his ''

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 ...

'' and that convention is followed here. Rampsgill Head therefore occupies a very small area for one of the higher fells. The southern ridge to High Street is the narrowest, closing down to little more than the width of the path at the Straits of Riggindale. The north-eastern ridge is also narrow, once Kidsty Pike is passed, but the north-western ridge is much broader with the summit of The Knott standing off to the left. The northern face of the fell drops over rough ground into the bowl of upper Rampsgill. The south-western flank above

Hayeswater Hayeswater is a small lake within the Lake District of Cumbria, England. The lake is situated about a mile (1.6 km) SE of the hamlet of Hartsop in the Patterdale Valley. It nestles between The Knott to its east and Gray Crag to the w ...

and the south-eastern above Riggindale (a feeder of Haweswater) are craggier, none of them giving a realistic route of ascent for the average walker.

Ascents

High Street (the Roman road) crosses the fell to the south-east of the summit, passing along the ridge from High Street to High Raise. There is also a clear path along the third ridge to The Knott.

Summit

The top is grassy with a little outcropped rock, 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 ...

marking the top. A larger cairn is set on the brink of the north face. The view westward to the Helvellyns is good with Ullswater and

Brothers Water Brothers Water is a small lake in the Hartsop valley, in the eastern region of the Lake District in England. Once called Broad Water, it lies at the northern end of Kirkstone Pass, affording views on the descent towards Patterdale. The name was ...

also visible.

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 can be made via other fells 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 and Mardale Head.

References

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