Lake District
Four Stones Hill
415M
1362FT
About Four Stones Hill
Rising quietly above the eastern shore of Haweswater, this grassy Birkett offers a sense of solitude often missing from the higher fells. Characterised by its cluster of namesake standing stones, the summit provides a superb, low-level perspective of the High Street range and the deep trench of the Mardale valley.
Key Statistics
Rank
575th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Far Eastern Fells
Prominence
?
15m
Nearest Town
Bampton
Geology
You are walking on ancient layers of hardened volcanic ash and solidified molten rock. These rugged foundations are the remnants of explosive eruptions and deep underground activity.
Find It
OS Grid Reference
NY491162
Latitude
54.5389°N
Longitude
2.7873°W
Did You Know?
- •The hill takes its name from a group of standing stones located near the summit, which are believed to be the remains of a prehistoric stone circle or ancient boundary markers.
- •Bill Birkett, who included the fell in his definitive list of Lake District peaks, noted that the summit is one of the best vantage points for observing the full scale of the Haweswater Reservoir from the east.
- •The summit provides a direct, uninterrupted view of the steep eastern flanks of Branstree and the long, high plateau of High Street, which dominates the horizon to the west.
- •Walkers often reach the summit via a detour from the track leading from Burnbanks, a small settlement originally built to house the workers who constructed the Haweswater dam in the 1930s.
- •Visitors frequently find that the most challenging part of the ascent is not the gradient, but the mental arithmetic required to decide which four specific rocks actually constitute the 'Four Stones'.