View source for Skiddaw

{{Short description|Mountain in the Lake District, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Skiddaw
| photo = File:Skiddaw (cropped).JPG
| photo_caption = Skiddaw from Ashness, [[Derwentwater]]
| elevation_m = 931
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence_m = 709
| prominence_ref = 
| listing = [[Furth (mountain)|P600 Furth]], [[Marilyn (hill)|Marilyn]], [[Hewitt (hill)|Hewitt]], [[List of Wainwrights|Wainwright]], [[Nuttall (hill)|Nuttall]]
| location = {{center|[[Cumbria]], [[England]]}}
| range = [[Lake District]], [[Northern Fells]]
| coordinates = {{coord|54.651|N|3.148|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| grid_ref_UK = NY260290
| topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landrangers'' 89, 90, ''Explorer'' OL4
| map = United Kingdom Lake District
}}

{{GB summits start}}
{{GB summits entry
|Name=Sale How
|Gridref=NY276286
|Height=    {{convert|666|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
|Status=Nuttall}}
{{End}}

'''Skiddaw''' is a [[mountain]] in the [[Lake District National Park]] in [[England]]. Its {{convert|931|m|ft|adj=on}} summit is traditionally considered to be the [[List of Wainwrights|fourth-highest peak]] but depending on what [[topographic prominence]] is thought to be significant is also variously ranked as the [[List of Marilyns in the British Isles|third-]] and the [[List of Furths#England|sixth-highest]] in England. It lies just north of the town of [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]], [[Cumbria]], in the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Cumberland]] and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes. It is the simplest of the Lake District mountains of this height to ascend (as there is a well-trodden tourist track from a car park to the north-east of Keswick, near the summit of [[Latrigg]]) and, as such, many walking guides recommend it to the occasional walker wishing to climb a mountain. This is the first summit of the [[fell running]] challenge known as the [[Bob Graham Round]] when undertaken in a clockwise direction.

The mountain lends its name to the surrounding areas of Skiddaw Forest and Back o' Skidda, and to the isolated Skiddaw House, situated to the east, formerly a shooting lodge and subsequently a [[youth hostel]]. It also provides the name for the slate derived from that region: [[Skiddaw slate]]. Skiddaw slate has been used to make tuned percussion musical instruments or [[lithophone]]s, such as the [[Musical Stones of Skiddaw]] held at the [[Keswick Museum and Art Gallery]].

==Topography==
[[Image:Skiddaw sketch map.JPG|thumb|300px|Sketch map of the Skiddaw locality]]
The [[Northern Fells]] make up a roughly circular upland area approaching {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=off}} in width. At the centre is the marshy depression of Skiddaw Forest, a treeless plateau, or valley, at an elevation of about {{convert|400|m|ft|-2|abbr=off}}; flowing outwards from here are the rivers that divide the area into three sectors. "Forest" is used here in its original sense, meaning land used for hunting, rather than a woodland. The south-western sector, between the [[Glenderaterra Beck]] and Dash Beck, contains Skiddaw and its satellites.<ref name="wainwright">[[Alfred Wainwright|Wainwright, Alfred]]: ''[[A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]], Book 5 The Northern Fells'': {{ISBN|0-7112-2458-7}}</ref>

Skiddaw itself takes the form of a north–south ridge about {{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=off}} long, with steep slopes to east and west. The ridge continues northwards over Broad End to [[Bakestall]], a fell overlooking the Whitewater Dash waterfall. Further ridges fan out east and west from the southern end of Skiddaw. To the south-east are [[Skiddaw Little Man]], [[Lonscale Fell]] and [[Latrigg]], an easily accessible viewpoint for Keswick and [[Derwentwater]]. Beyond these fells are the [[Glenderaterra Beck]] and the [[Blencathra]] group. The south-western ridge curves round through 180 degrees to run north above the shore of [[Bassenthwaite Lake]]. This gives Skiddaw an 'outer wall', comprising [[Carl Side]], [[Long Side]] and [[Ullock Pike]], collectively referred to as Longside Edge. The final member of the Skiddaw Group is [[Dodd (Lake District)|Dodd]], a satellite of Carl Side.

Between Skiddaw and Longside Edge are the quiet valleys of Southerndale and Barkbethdale, separated by the spur of Buzzard Knott. These drain the western flanks of the fell to Bassenthwaite Lake. The eastern side of Skiddaw drains into Skiddaw Forest, much of the water reaching Candleseaves Bog. This marsh is the source of both the Dash Beck flowing north west to Bassenthwaite and the [[River Caldew]], beginning its long journey north-eastward to the [[Solway Firth]] via [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]]. Two smooth spurs on this eastern flank of Skiddaw, Sale How and Hare Crag, are listed as separate tops in some guidebooks.<ref name="birkett">Birkett, Bill: Complete Lakeland Fells: Collins Willow (1994): {{ISBN|0-00-713629-3}}</ref> Sale How is also a [[Nuttall (hill)|Nuttall]].

Skiddaw's slopes are generally rounded and convex, looking from a distance as though a thick velvet blanket has been draped over a supporting frame. On the ridges the general terrain is of loose stones, but elsewhere all is grass and heather. [[Alfred Wainwright|Wainwright]] noted that "Its lines are smooth, its curves graceful; but because the slopes are steep everywhere, the quick build-up of the “massif” from valley levels to central summit is appreciated at a glance — and it should be an appreciative glance, for such massive strength and such beauty of outline rarely go together."<ref name="wainwright" />

==Geology==
{{see also|Skiddaw Group}}
The bedrock of Skiddaw, commonly known as [[Skiddaw Slate]], is the Kirkstile Formation. This [[Ordovician]] rock is composed of laminated [[mudstone]] and [[siltstone]] with [[greywacke]] sandstone. At the summit this is overlain by [[scree]] and to the south are areas where the underlying Loweswater Formation surfaces.

==Summit==
[[File:Skiddaw from derwentwater by Richard Corbould.jpg|thumb|300px|Skiddaw from Derwentwater, by [[Richard Corbould]] (1757&ndash;1831)]]
[[File:Skiddaw engraving by William Miller after Turner R513.jpg|thumb|300px|Skiddaw after [[J. M. W. Turner]] (1833)]]
[[File:Skiddaw Massif3.jpg|thumb|300px|Skiddaw Massif as seen from [[Outerside]] [[Fell]]]]
The summit ridge bears a number of tops, which from north to south are known<ref name="wainwright" /><ref name="birkett" /> as North Top, High Man (the summit), Middle Top and South Top. All now bear [[cairn]]s and a number of stone windshelters have been erected.  Skiddaw has a subsidiary summit, [[Skiddaw Little Man|Little Man]], which lies about {{convert|1.5|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} south-south-east of the main peak. Despite its limited independence, Wainwright listed it as a separate fell in his influential ''[[Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]]'', a convention which is often followed. Skiddaw Little Man has its own subsidiary summit, known as Lesser Man.

The view is as panoramic as might be expected, given Skiddaw's [[topographic prominence]]. From High Man the north east quadrant is filled by the quiet fells of Back o'Skiddaw, with the Border hills, the [[The Cheviot|Cheviots]] and the North [[Pennines]] behind them. To the south east are Blencathra, the [[Far Eastern Fells]] and the [[Helvellyn range]]; behind these are vistas of the [[Yorkshire Dales]] and [[Forest of Bowland]]. The [[Coniston Fells]] are visible directly to the south. On the other side of South Top is a fine view of the [[Scafells]], [[Western Fells|Western]] and [[North Western Fells]], with a portion of [[Snowdonia]] visible between [[Kirk Fell]] and [[Pillar (Lake District)|Pillar]]. The [[Isle of Man]] is visible {{convert|60|mi|km|-1|abbr=off}} away, as are the [[Mourne Mountains]] {{convert|120|mi|km|round=5}} away (on exceptionally clear days). The final quarter is taken up by the coastal plain and the distant Solway Firth, backed by the hills of [[Galloway]] such as [[Merrick, Galloway|Merrick]] and [[Criffel]], and [[Broad Law]] in the [[Scottish Borders]]. [[Goat Fell]] on [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] can be seen at an angle of 313 degrees, {{convert|105|mi|km|round=5}} away.

The most distant view is of [[Slieve Meelmore]] in the [[Mountains of Mourne]] in [[County Down]], Northern Ireland, {{convert|120|mi|km|round=5}} distant.

By moving to South Top a superb view of [[Borrowdale]] can be brought into sight.<ref name="wainwright" />

==Ascents==
[[File:Summit ridge of Skiddaw (geograph 2707510).jpg|thumb|Summit ridge]]
Many routes of ascent have been devised for Skiddaw; indeed, it is hard to devise a challenging approach in good conditions. The most popular tourist route starts from Keswick and first ascends behind Latrigg, before the climb continues over the slopes of Little Man to the summit. About {{convert|200|m|ft}} of ascent can be saved by driving to the top of Gale Road and beginning from the public car park just behind the summit of Latrigg.

Another popular route (and the one recommended by Wainwright<ref name="wainwright" />) is to follow Longside Edge, first ascending Ullock Pike, Longside and Carl Side before making the steep climb up from Carlside Col. Also from the north, a somewhat tougher alternative is to walk up Buzzard Knott between Southerndale and Barkbethdale: after crossing to the southern edge of the shoulder above Randel Crag ascend due east to the summit. Rather easier than either of these is the compass-walk due south from Cock Up ({{convert|505|m|ft}}); reversing this route provides a safe descent, especially in bad weather. Scramblers may prefer simply to walk up Southerndale and climb Longside via a distinctive crevice seen easily from Skiddaw summit.

From the south-west at Millbeck, Carlside Col can be reached directly. A start from nearby Applethwaite can also be used to provide a variation to the tourist route. From the north-west a tough but picturesque ascent can be made to the northern end of Longside Edge before following the ridge route to the summit. Finally, ascents from due east are possible for the walker who first makes for Skiddaw House, a good distance from either Keswick, [[Threlkeld]] or Peter House. Once Skiddaw House is reached a fairly direct line is possible, climbing over either Sale How or Hare Crag.<ref name="wainwright" />

[[Image:Keswick and Skiddaw.jpg|thumb|Skiddaw with [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]] at its foot]]
From the north-east an unmarked but quite easy and fairly well-worn path starts at Whitewater Dash waterfall (on the [[Cumbria Way|Cumbrian Way]]) where the walker can follow the fence (along Birkett Edge just south of Dead Crags) past the Bakestall outcrop, and follow the fence until just before the unnamed top at {{convert|831|m|ft}}. From the 831m top, a path leads directly to Skiddaw Man.

==Toponymy==
Early forms of the name from the include ''Skythou'' in c.1260 and ''Skydehow'' in 1247.<ref>{{Cite book |title=English Place-Name Society, Volume 21 |date=1950 |publisher=University Press |page=230}}</ref> According to [[Eilert Ekwall]], Skiddaw's name is derived from the [[Old Norse]] elements ''skyti'' or ''skut'' + ''haugr'' meaning either "archer's hill" or "jutting crag hill".<ref>Ekwall, E. ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Placenames'' Oxford University Press (1960) p. 425</ref> Diana Whaley likewise interprets it as "the mountain with the jutting crag", but also offers the alternative that the first element may be a personal name or Old Norse ''skítr'' 'dung, filth, shit'.<ref name="Whaley">{{Cite book |last=Whaley |first=Diana |title=A dictionary of Lake District place-names |publisher=English Place-Name Society |year=2006 |isbn=0904889726 |location=Nottingham |pages=lx,423 p.311}}</ref> [[Richard Coates]] suggests that "it is possible that a [[Cumbric]] solution is to be sought."<ref name="Whaley" />

==Skiddaw House==
[[File:Skiddaw_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1519820.jpg|thumb|Skiddaw House]]
Below Sale How, at an elevation of {{convert|470|m|ft}} is Skiddaw House, a stone building which has variously served as a shooting lodge, a shepherd's bothy and a [[Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales)|Youth Hostel]]. Its windbreak comprises the only trees in Skiddaw Forest, and it is reached by a long access track up the [[Dash Valley]].
[[File:The Kitchen Range, Skiddaw House (geograph 4392542).jpg|thumb|Kitchen range]]

Built around 1829 by the [[George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont|Earl of Egremont]], it was originally a keeper's lodge: a base for grouse shooting and for the gamekeepers who managed the extensive land owned by Egremont in Skiddaw Forest.

Little is known of the house in the 19th century, but it was used by both gamekeepers and shepherds beyond 1860 and there were rooms for Egremont and the shooting parties.<ref name="shf">{{Cite web |title=History of Skiddaw House |url=https://www.skiddawhouse.co.uk/history |access-date=15 May 2025 |website=Skiddaw House |publisher=Skiddaw House Foundation}}</ref> [[Hardwicke Rawnsley|Canon Rawnsley]], a founder of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]], visited in about 1900 and mentions in one of his books the hospitality of the shepherd's family at that time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skiddaw House Bunkhouse |url=http://www.caldew.org.uk/places/skiddawhouse/index.cfm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012022645/http://www.caldew.org.uk/Places/SkiddawHouse/index.cfm |archive-date=12 October 2007 |website=www.caldew.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=31 May 1997 |title=Birthday party on the skiddaw fells |work=Cumberland and Westmorland Herald |url=http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/birthday-party-on-the-skiddaw-fells.268831.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604172102/http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/birthday-party-on-the-skiddaw-fells.268831.html |archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref> [[Hugh Walpole|Sir Hugh Walpole]], author of the Lake District novel ''[[Rogue Herries]]'', was a visitor in the 1920s and 30s and used the house as the scene, set in 1854, of the murder by Uhland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thompson |first=Bryan |date=4 November 2000 |title=Bryan Thompson gives a hint to the BBC … |work=Cumberland & Westmorland Herald |url=http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/bryan-thompson-gives-a-hint-to-the-bbc.266558.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604185344/http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/bryan-thompson-gives-a-hint-to-the-bbc.266558.html |archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref>

These arrangements for accommodation continued until the early 1950s. Several families brought up their children there until they were able to go to school, but the longest tenure was possibly that of Pearson Dalton, a shepherd and bachelor from the [[Caldbeck]] area, who came to stay for a month in 1952 and left in 1969 aged 75. He lived there alone for five days a week, only going home for long weekends with his sister in Caldbeck, then returning on the Monday to resume his duties. By that time farming practices had changed and the house was no longer needed; it declined, although there was intermittent use by various schools and outdoor groups.<ref name=shf />

In 1986 the house was leased by John Bothamley, who had created the [[Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales)|YHA]] [[Carrock Fell]] Hostel {{convert|13|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} away; and eventually the building was handed over to the YHA. It closed in 2002 following a disagreement over the lease. In 2007 it re-opened as an independent hostel run by the Skiddaw House Foundation, under the YHA's Enterprise franchising model.<ref name=shf />

==2024 purchase==
In 2024, {{convert|1200|ha|acre}} of Skiddaw Forest was purchased by the [[Cumbria Wildlife Trust]] for £6.25m, as part of a long-term rewilding project, which the trust says will see the re-introduction of hen harriers, black grouse, water voles, aspen and rare upland bumblebees. The plan includes planting 300,000 native trees over {{convert|250|ha|acre}} of the site (but specifically excluding the summit of Skiddaw). The peat bogs that cover one third of the site will be rewetted by blocking drains and holding back water so that the peat remains saturated. The purchase was partly funded by a £5m grant from [[Aviva]], with a public appeal being launched to raise the balance.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barkham |first1=Patrick |title=‘A 100-year vision’: Skiddaw’s barren peak to spring to life in ambitious rewilding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/skiddaw-forest-cumbria-rewilding-england-nature-reserve |work=The Guardian |date=5 September 2024 |access-date=5 September 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cumbria Wildlife Trust launches public appeal to help buy Skiddaw Forest and create England’s highest nature reserve {{!}} Cumbria Wildlife Trust |url=https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/news/cumbria-wildlife-trust-launches-public-appeal-help-buy-skiddaw-forest-and-create-englands |website=Cumbria Wildlife Trust |access-date=5 September 2024 |language=en |date=5 September 2024}}</ref> The forest forms part of the [[Skiddaw Group SSSI]], a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]].

== Civil parish ==
Skiddaw was a [[civil parish]] until 1 April 1934, when it was merged with [[Underskiddaw]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10012156|title=Relationships and changes Skiddaw ExP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref> In 1931 it had a population of 5.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10012156/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Skiddaw ExP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=30 December 2021}}</ref>

==In literature==

In "A Stranger Minstrel" (published 1800), [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] remarks on Skiddaw's characteristic "helm of cloud", and observes atmospheric effects and the play of sunlight across the landscape: "yon small flaky mists that love to creep / Along the edges of those spots of light, / Those sunny islands on thy smooth green heights."<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.friendsofcoleridge.com/MembersOnly/Fulford_Robinson.html |title=Mary Robinson and the Abyssinian Maid: Coleridge’s Muses and Feminist Criticism |first=Tim |last=Fulford  |website= |via=friendsofcoleridge.com |journal=Romanticism on the Net  |volume=13 |date=February 1999 |access-date=2 November 2022 |doi=10.7202/005842ar|url-access=subscription |hdl=2086/16352 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Coleridge also mentioned Skiddaw in the valediction of his [[mnemonic]] poem "Metrical Feet," which he addressed to his son [[Derwent Coleridge|Derwent]], who had been born nearby; he wrote, "Could you stand upon Skiddaw, you would not from its whole ridge / See a man who so loves you as your fond S.T. Coleridge."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coleridge |first1=Samuel Taylor |title=Metrical Feet |url=https://allpoetry.com/Metrical-Feet |website=allpoetry.com |access-date=5 March 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Skiddaw is mentioned in the fourth book of [[John Keats]]'s poem ''[[Endymion (poem)|Endymion]]'':
"…with all the stress / Of vision search'd for him, as one would look […] from old Skiddaw's top, when fog conceals / His rugged forehead in a mantle pale, / With an eye-guess towards some pleasant vale / Descry a favourite hamlet faint and far."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keats |first=John |url=http://www.bartleby.com/126/35.htm |title=The Poetical Works of John Keats |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1915 |editor-last=Harry Buxton Forman |page=151}}</ref>

Skiddaw is also mentioned in the final lines of the poem ''The Armada'' by [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord Macaulay]]:
:"Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile,	
:And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Armada, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord Macaulay (1800–1859) |url=http://www.bartleby.com/41/570.html}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Cumbria}}
"Skiddaw" is also a former name for [[Mount Wellington, Tasmania]], which also overlooks a River Derwent ([[Derwent River, Tasmania|River Derwent, Tasmania]], rather than [[River Derwent, Cumbria]]).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Skiddaw}}
*[http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/skiddaw-forest  Cumbria County History Trust: Skiddaw Forest] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
* Skiddaw is at coordinates {{Coord|54.647|-3.146|type:mountain_region:GB|display=inline}}
* Computer-generated virtual panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/CUM/Skiddaw-N.gif North] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/CUM/Skiddaw-S.gif South] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html Index]
* [http://www.relevantsearch.co.uk/skiddaw-hike.html Large Sunny images of 3 Routes to Skiddaw and Car Parking]
* [http://www.lakedistrict-walks.co.uk/Wainwrights/Skiddaw.html Skiddaw photos, information and walks]

<gallery>
Image:Skiddaw in the fog.jpg|Skiddaw in the fog from [[Latrigg]]
Image:Skiddaw and Little Man .JPG|Skiddaw and [[Skiddaw Little Man]] from [[Latrigg]]
</gallery>

{{Northern Fells}}
{{Marilyns N Eng}}

{{British hills}}

[[Category:Marilyns of England]]
[[Category:Hewitts of England]]
[[Category:Fells of the Lake District]]
[[Category:Nuttalls]]
[[Category:Mountains under 1000 metres]]
[[Category:Furths]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Cumberland (unitary authority)]]