Yorkshire Dales & Moors
Black Hambleton
400M
1312FT
About Black Hambleton
Rising as a broad, heather-clad plateau, this 400m summit is a dominant feature of its western escarpment. It offers a sense of immense scale, providing an expansive vantage point over the Vale of Mowbray towards the Pennines. Both a Hump and a Tump, it is defined by its big skies and historic upland tracks.
Key Statistics
Rank
7th Highest in Region
Parent Range
North Pennines
Prominence
?
114m
Nearest Town
North Yorkshire
Geology
You are walking over a foundation of gritty sandstone and firm mudstone. These natural layers form the rugged slopes of the hill beneath your feet.
Nearby Fells
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SE481946
Latitude
54.3447°N
Longitude
1.2609°W
Did You Know?
- •The name Hambleton is thought to derive from the Old English word 'hamel', meaning scarred or mutilated, likely describing the steep, rugged character of the western slopes that fall away from the plateau.
- •The hill is famously traversed by the Hambleton Drove Road, an ancient high-level route used for centuries by Scottish drovers to move vast numbers of cattle south to English markets.
- •From the summit, the view is dominated by the Vale of Mowbray to the west, with the distant profiles of the Yorkshire Dales—specifically the massif of Great Whernside—visible on the horizon.
- •Standing at an elevation of exactly 400 metres, the hill is classified as a Hump (a hill with a prominence of at least 100 metres) and a Tump.
- •The summit plateau is so wide and uniform that on a misty day, finding the actual highest point feels less like mountaineering and more like a very damp game of 'warmer or colder'.