Lank Rigg

About Lank Rigg

Rising above the quiet pastures of West Cumbria, this sprawling grassy fell offers a sense of isolation rarely found in the central lakes. Its broad, dome-shaped summit is reached via gentle but often boggy slopes, providing a stark, minimalist landscape that contrasts sharply with the rugged crags of nearby Ennerdale.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is rooted in Old Norse, where 'rigg' derives from hryggr, meaning a ridge or back of an animal. 'Lank' likely refers to the fell's elongated, sprawling profile, essentially translating to the 'long ridge'.
• •Alfred Wainwright was particularly fond of the solitude here, describing it as a 'remote and lonely hill.' In his Pictorial Guide to the Western Fells, he suggested a walker could spend an entire day on its slopes without meeting another soul.
• •The summit is marked by a significant prehistoric tumulus, or burial mound, which serves as the base for the modern cairn. Further down the southeastern slopes lie the remains of a substantial Bronze Age settlement, including hut circles and ancient field boundaries.
• •In 1963, Alfred Wainwright buried a half-sovereign beneath a stone on the summit as a gift for any reader who could find it. He later confirmed the coin was recovered within a year, though the finder never came forward publicly.
• •The summit offers an unusual perspective of the high peaks; while the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man are visible to the west, the eastern view features a distinctive profile of Scafell Pike, Great Gable, and the Pillar massif.
• •Despite its modest height and gentle appearance, the fell is notorious for its 'spongy' terrain; a walker's success here is often measured not by time, but by how many inches of bog they managed to keep out of their boots.