West Nab

About West Nab

Rising above the Wessenden Valley, this gritstone-capped Tump offers a rugged, moorland character typical of the northern Peak District. The summit plateau is scattered with weathered boulders and a solitary trig pillar, providing a fine vantage point to survey the chain of reservoirs below and the sprawling moorland toward Black Hill.

Key Statistics

Find It

Did You Know?

• •The name 'Nab' derives from the Old Norse word 'nabbi', meaning a projecting peak or promontory, a common term across the Pennines for hills that overlook steep-sided valleys.
• •The summit area is a site of significant archaeological interest; a Bronze Age burial mound sits near the highest point, and numerous microlith flint tools have been discovered nearby, indicating human presence dating back to the Mesolithic period.
• •From the trig pillar, walkers are treated to a clear view of the 228-metre-high Holme Moss transmitting station to the southeast, while the deep trench of the Wessenden Valley reveals the Butterley, Blakeley, and Wessenden reservoirs in sequence.
• •The hill is characterized by its dramatic gritstone outcrops, part of the same geological formation that creates the famous edges further south in the Peak District, though here the rocks feel more remote and weathered.
• •The summit once featured a celebrated 'rocking stone,' a massive boulder balanced so delicately it could be moved by hand, until it was reportedly pushed over by a group of Victorian navvies working on the nearby reservoirs.