What does 'knott' mean on Lake District maps?

It depends on which knott you're looking at. Sometimes it means a rounded, grassy hilltop you can easily walk up, and other times it refers to a rocky outcrop or crag that might require scrambling. Both come from the Old Norse word 'knottr,' and there's no reliable way to tell which type you're dealing with from the name alone.

Is Great Knott a scramble or an easy walk?

Great Knott near Cold Pike is the easy sort—a broad, grassy summit at 696 metres that doesn't require using your hands. It's one of the gentler knotts in the Lakes.

Why are some Lake District hills called knott and others not?

Old Norse settlers used 'knottr' to describe rounded rocky hills, whether they were whale-backed summits or craggy protrusions. The names made perfect sense to locals who saw them daily, but they've been handed down through centuries and applied somewhat inconsistently across the region.

Why is it called that?

When Knott Means Not What You Think: The Double Meaning Crisis

A knott can be a rounded summit or a rocky outcrop, depending on which valley you're in and who named it first. This wouldn't matter except that your map has fourteen of them and they don't all follow the same rule. The result is a delightful mess of confusion for anyone trying to work out whether they're about to climb something gentle or scramble up something rather more committed.

16 August 20268 min read