North Pennines
Great Close Hill
465M
1526FT
About Great Close Hill
Rising sharply above the northern shore of Malham Tarn, this grassy limestone dome offers one of the most rewarding short climbs in the Southern Fells. The summit provides a spectacular, birds-eye perspective of the tarn’s shimmering waters, set against the massive profile of Fountains Fell and the distant silhouette of Pen-y-ghent.
Key Statistics
Rank
200th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Yorkshire Dales
Prominence
?
Data coming soon
Nearest Town
North Yorkshire
Geology
Beneath your feet, this fell is made of solid limestone layers topped with gritty sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone.
Classifications
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SD902668
Latitude
54.1399°N
Longitude
2.2094°W
Did You Know?
- •The name 'Great Close' refers to the sprawling 732-acre pasture at the hill's foot, which served as a vital grazing ground for the sheep flocks of Fountains Abbey during the Middle Ages.
- •During the 18th and 19th centuries, the hill was the site of the Great Close Fair, a major event on the droving calendar where thousands of cattle from Scotland and Northern England were traded before being driven further south.
- •The summit offers a unique vantage point over Malham Tarn, which, sitting at 377 metres above sea level, is the highest marl lake in Great Britain.
- •Archaeological remains on the plateau, including a possible Iron Age or Romano-British enclosure, suggest that this prominent overlook has been a site of human activity for nearly two thousand years.
- •While the 465-metre summit is relatively modest, the gradient from the tarn is surprisingly blunt; if you haven't broken a sweat by the top, you've likely taken the long way round via the Monks Road.