Lake District
nameless (Top o' Selside - Brock Barrow)
221M
725FT
About nameless (Top o' Selside - Brock Barrow)
Rising steeply above the hamlet of High Nibthwaite, this rugged outlier offers one of the most rewarding effort-to-view ratios in the Southern Fells. Though modest in height, its rocky, heather-clad slopes provide a grandstand seat over the southern reaches of Coniston Water and the winding Crake Valley below.
Key Statistics
Rank
902nd Highest in Region
Parent Range
Southern Fells
Prominence
?
3
Nearest Town
High Nibthwaite
Geology
You are walking on the Bannisdale Formation, which is composed of alternating layers of hardened silt and mud.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
54.2991°N
Longitude
3.0800°W
Did You Know?
- •The name 'Brock' is derived from the Old English 'brocc', meaning a badger, suggesting these craggy slopes were once a well-known haunt for the animals. 'Barrow' comes from 'beorg', signifying a hill or mound.
- •Alfred Wainwright included this summit in his 'Top o' Selside' circular in The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. He famously noted that the view from this lower, craggy top is arguably finer than the one from the actual summit of Top o' Selside further north.
- •The summit offers a perfectly framed perspective of the Coniston Fells; look northwest to see the Old Man of Coniston, Dow Crag, and Wetherlam rising sharply above the water.
- •The ascent from High Nibthwaite is notoriously steep for such a small hill, requiring a brief but breathless scramble through bracken and over rock steps to reach the airy summit cairn.
- •It is a hill that punches well above its weight, proving that in the Lake District, the quality of a summit is rarely determined by how much oxygen you need to reach it.