Cribden Hill

Rising steeply above Rawtenstall, this prominent Tump offers a gritstone-edged perspective on the Rossendale Valley’s industrial heart. Its slopes are a mix of rough pasture and old quarry workings, providing a swift but satisfying ascent to a summit with clear sightlines towards the high moors of the South Pennines.

• •The name likely derives from the Brythonic or Old English for 'hill of the crag' or 'steep hill', a fitting description for a peak that rises nearly 250 metres directly from the valley floor.
• •The hill’s lower slopes are scarred by 19th-century quarrying, which provided the durable gritstone used to build the textile mills and terraced houses that define the character of the town below.
• •From the summit, you can look across the valley to the distinctively flat-topped Musbury Heights and identify the Peel Tower standing on the horizon of Holcombe Hill to the south.
• •Despite its modest height, the hill’s western flank is steep enough to ensure that anyone attempting a direct line from the town centre will arrive at the top having felt the full effort of every one of its 1,316 feet.