Humphrey Head

About Humphrey Head

Jutting into the sands of Morecambe Bay, this modest limestone promontory offers an experience unlike most Wainwright Outlying Fells. Despite its low elevation, the whaleback ridge provides a breezy, atmospheric walk with dramatic cliff edges and sweeping views across the Kent Estuary toward the higher Lakeland giants.

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Did You Know?

• •Local tradition identifies this limestone ridge as the site where the last wolf in England was hunted down and killed in the 14th century, allegedly cornered against the cliffs by a party from nearby Cartmel Priory.
• •Included in Alfred Wainwright’s 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland,' he described the walk along the edge of the abyss as 'exhilarating,' noting that the hill's modest height is compensated for by its dramatic position over the shifting sands.
• •Geologically, the headland is a mass of Carboniferous limestone, home to rare botanical species such as the spiked speedwell and hoary rock-rose, which thrive in the thin, alkaline soil of the SSSI-protected summit.
• •From the summit trig pillar, the view encompasses the vast expanse of the Kent Estuary and the Heysham peninsula to the south, while the distant silhouettes of Ingleborough and the Coniston Fells frame the horizon.
• •Standing at just 53 metres, it is one of the few Wainwright summits where a walker is arguably at more risk from the incoming tide than from the actual ascent.