Lake District
Robin Hood
492M
1614FT
About Robin Hood
Rising above the Shap Wells Hotel, this grassy limestone hill offers a quiet escape from the busier Far Eastern peaks. It is a Wainwright Outlying Fell, characterized by rugged, often damp moorland. The summit provides an unusual vantage point for watching the M6 and the West Coast Main Line snake through the landscape below.
Key Statistics
Rank
435th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Far Eastern Fells
Prominence
?
30m
Nearest Town
Shap Rural
Geology
You are walking on the Coniston Group, a foundation built from ancient layers of compressed sand, silt, and mud.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
54.4460°N
Longitude
2.7257°W
Did You Know?
- •The origin of the name is obscure; while associations with the legendary outlaw appear across Northern England, it is likely a piece of 19th-century naming common near Victorian tourist spots like the nearby Shap Wells Hotel.
- •Alfred Wainwright included the summit in his book 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland', suggesting a six-mile circular walk that also takes in the neighbouring Birkett of Grey Crag.
- •From the summit cairn, there is a clear view east across the Eden Valley to the long, dark spine of the North Pennines, while the higher Kentmere fells are visible to the west.
- •The hill marks a geological transition; unlike the rugged volcanic rock found in the heart of the Lake District, this area features limestone outcrops and gritstone typical of the Shap fells.
- •While the name suggests a legendary marksman, the most dangerous thing you are likely to encounter on these slopes is a particularly deep patch of Shap bog.