Stone Arthur 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 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 ...

, an outlier of the Fairfield group in the

Eastern Fells The Eastern Fells are a part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. Centred on Helvellyn they primarily comprise a north–south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley. Partition of the Lakeland fells ...

. It stands above Grasmere village.

Topography

Stone Arthur is properly the south western ridge of

Great Rigg Great Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, north-west of Ambleside and reaching a height of . It is most often climbed as part of the Fairfield horseshoe, a 16-km circular walk which starts and finishes in Ambleside. The fell's name orig ...

, but was given the status of a separate fell by

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 ...

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. His decision was based on it having a summit

tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

with''"a short wall of rock like a ruined castle."''.

: ''

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: This outcrop appears particularly impressive from Grasmere village, from where the higher fells are hidden. From the top of Great Rigg the main ridge ploughs on due south, descending over the tops of

Heron Pike Heron Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, two kilometres east of Grasmere. It is part of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It should not be confused with the Heron Pike that forms part of Sheffield Pike, although it appear ...

and

Nab Scar Nab Scar is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It stands above Rydal Water. Topography Nab Scar is properly the steep terminal face of the southern ridge of Heron Pike, but the name i ...

and carrying the ever popular

Fairfield horseshoe Fairfield Horseshoe is a classic circular hillwalking ridge walk route starting from Rydal or Ambleside in the English Lake District that takes in all the fells that surround the valley of the Rydal Beck. The round The walk is extremely popular ...

walk. A second shorter ridge descends steadily to the south west over gradually roughening ground, until after a rock outcrop is thrust up. This is Arthur's Chair and the ridge upon which it stands is Stone Arthur. Prominence is negligible, and other than the low outcrop itself, the "summit" is merely the point at which the gradient steepens markedly. Between Stone Arthur and Heron Pike is the little valley of Greenhead Gill. This bears evidence of former mining activities, beginning at around above sea level with a trial. Further up the fellside are the remains of Grasmere Lead Mine. This was operated by the Mines Royal between 1564 and 1573 and there are several levels and shafts around the contour.Adams, John: ''Mines of the Lake District Fells'': Dalesman (1995) To the north west of Stone Arthur is the valley of Tongue Gill, separating it from the lower slopes of

Seat Sandal Seat Sandal is a fell in the English Lake District, situated four kilometres ( miles) north of the village of Grasmere from where it is very well seen. Nevertheless, it tends to be overshadowed by its higher neighbours in the Eastern Fells, H ...

. This side of the ridge is craggy with the main features being Brackenwife Knotts and Rigg Crags. Both Tongue and Greenhead Gills are tributaries of the

River Rothay The Rothay is a spate river of the Lake District in north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and translates literally as ''the red one''. This has come to mean ''trout river''. It rises close to Rough Crag above Dunmail Raise at a p ...

, which passes through Grasmere village to the lake of Grasmere. The lower slopes have been planted with areas of woodland.

Geology

The summit tor is an example of the pebbly

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 ...

and

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

of the Pavey Ark Member.

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 38'': BGS (1998)

Summit

The summit of Stone Arthur is difficult to locate exactly amongst the upthrust rocks of Arthur's Chair. The view is excellent, particularly over Grasmere with Easedale Tarn showing across the valley.

Ascents

Stone Arthur is most commonly ascended from a path turning left immediately after passing through the gate giving access to Greenhead Gill, repaired in recent years, this path rises steeply before crossing the breast of the fell below Stone Arthur, and recent the summit rocks from the south. The summit can also be reached from either side of the ridge. Beginning at Mill Bridge, Tongue Gill can be followed until the footbridge, before making a pathless ascent on grass. From Grasmere, climbing alongside Greenhead Gill also provides access, climbing until a contouring traverse to the summit can be made.

References

{{Eastern Fells Fells of the Lake District