Swarth Fell (Ullswater)

About Swarth Fell (Ullswater)

Rising above the eastern shores of Ullswater, this grassy Birkett forms a quiet link between the craggy Bonscale Pike and the peat-covered heights of Loadpot Hill. While often bypassed on the way to the High Street ridge, the broad summit offers a grandstand view straight down the lake towards Pooley Bridge.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the Old Norse word 'svartr', meaning black or dark, likely referring to the dark, heathery appearance of the fell's upper slopes or its areas of exposed peat.
• •Although it lacks a dedicated chapter in Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides, Bill Birkett identified it as a distinct summit in its own right, situated on the long northern shoulder of the Far Eastern Fells.
• •The ancient High Street Roman road, which once connected the forts at Brougham and Ambleside, passes just to the east of the summit as it traverses the ridge toward Loadpot Hill.
• •From the top, the view northwest is particularly distinctive, framing the twin heather-clad humps of Great and Little Mell Fell against the distant, bulky profile of the Skiddaw massif.
• •It is a summit of such subtle, rounded character that many walkers travelling between the dramatic cairns of Bonscale Pike and the trig pillar on Loadpot Hill manage to bag it without ever noticing they’ve gained any height.