Knock Murton

Knock Murton is a steep, grassy fell overlooking the Cogra Moss reservoir in the western fringes of the Lakes. Known for its mining heritage, it offers a sharp, direct ascent rewarded by sprawling views of the Solway Firth and the Scottish coastline.

• •The fell's northern slopes are heavily scarred by 19th-century hematite mining, where deep excavations once provided high-quality iron ore for the West Cumberland industry.
• •The name is a linguistic tautology, combining the Goidelic 'Knock' (hill) with the Old English 'Murton' (moor-town), essentially meaning the hill of the moor-town.
• •Alfred Wainwright famously labeled this 'the forbidden peak' and excluded it from his pictorial guides because it was entirely encircled by a deer fence during his surveys. These days there are a few ways up and the views are worth it!
• •The summit provides an exceptional vantage point for viewing Cogra Moss, a former reservoir that has since been naturalized into a peaceful forest tarn.
• •While no longer legally forbidden, the ascent is a relentless, calf-stretching treadmill of grass that might make you wish the Forestry Commission had kept the fences up.