North Pennines
Melmerby Fell
709M
2326FT
About Melmerby Fell
Rising above the Eden Valley, this hulking North Pennine mass offers a classic escarpment experience. Its broad, peaty plateau is a Hewitt that rewards the long ascent with expansive views across the vale toward the Lake District’s eastern fells, most notably the distinctive, serrated profile of Blencathra.
Key Statistics
Rank
15th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Yorkshire Dales
Prominence
?
Data coming soon
Nearest Town
Westmorland and Furness
Geology
You’re walking over stacked layers of limestone, sandstone, and mudstone. These rest upon the Whin Sill, a famous band of hard, dark rock formed from molten heat.
Find It
OS Grid Reference
NY652380
Latitude
54.7359°N
Longitude
2.5417°W
Did You Know?
- •The fell takes its name from the village of Melmerby at its foot, which translates from Old Norse as the 'farmstead of Maelmuir', a Gaelic personal name indicating the blend of cultures in the region during the Viking Age.
- •The eastern flank of the fell is traversed by the Maiden Way, an ambitious Roman road that reached heights of over 600 metres as it linked the fort at Kirkby Thore with Hadrian's Wall.
- •It is often tackled as part of a demanding high-level traverse along the Pennine edge, connecting with the stony plateau of Cross Fell to the south and Fiend’s Fell to the north.
- •The fell is a prime location to experience the 'Helm Wind', the UK’s only named wind, which creates a distinctive 'Helm Bar' cloud over the summit and blasts the valley below with gale-force gusts.
- •Despite being a classified Hewitt, the summit is so broad and featureless that reaching the cairn in thick mist feels less like mountaineering and more like an exercise in faith and compass-tapping.