Burnhope Seat

Last updated
Burnhope Seat
Burnhope seat.jpg
Burnhope Seat Summit
Highest point
Elevation 747 m (2,451 ft)
Prominence 190 m (620 ft)
Parent peak Cross Fell
Listing Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall
Geography
Location Cumbria and County Durham, England
Parent range North Pennines
OS grid NY785375
Topo map OS Landranger 91

Burnhope Seat is a high moorland fell in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in northern England. It lies between the heads of the Rivers Tees, South Tyne and Wear. The summit is crossed by the boundary between County Durham and Cumbria (historically Cumberland). The trig point is the highest point in historic County Durham. However, this is not quite the summit of the mountain (which lies 400 m west and 1 m higher across the border into historic Cumberland). Mickle Fell, south of Teesdale is higher than Burnhope Seat and is sometimes quoted as being the highest top of County Durham, but this is historically not correct. Mickle Fell, although it lies within the unitary council area of Durham County Council for administrative purposes, is historically a part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is the highest point in that county.

The character of the fell is very typical of the high Pennines, with an extensive and poorly drained summit plateau of tussock grass and peat bog. The B6277 road between Alston and Middleton-in-Teesdale passes within 2 km of the summit, thus providing the easiest route of ascent. The hill may also be climbed from Weardale as part of high-level circuit of Burnhope Reservoir. There are some ski-tows on the northwest slopes of the hill - this forms the Yad Moss ski facility, [1] which has recently been upgraded by Sport England.

The entire area is designated "access land" under the terms of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

  1. Yad Moss snow slope

Coordinates: 54°43′55″N2°20′07″W / 54.73202°N 2.33539°W / 54.73202; -2.33539

Related Research Articles

High Force

High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, England. The waterfall is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the European Geopark. The waterfall lies on the historic county boundary between the North Riding of Yorkshire on the south bank, and County Durham on the north bank.

Pennines Range of uplands in Northern England

The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, is a range of hills and mountains separating North West England from Yorkshire and North East England.

Alston, Cumbria Human settlement in England

Alston is a town in Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite its altitude, the town is easily accessible via the many roads which link the town to Weardale, Teesdale, and towns in Cumbria such as Penrith via Hartside Cross, as well as Tynedale. Historically part of Cumberland, Alston lies within the North Pennines, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Much of the town centre is a designated Conservation Area which includes several listed buildings.

Yorkshire Three Peaks

The mountains of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent are collectively known as the Three Peaks. The peaks, which form part of the Pennine range, encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the North of England.

Whernside

Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. It is the tallest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. It is the highest point in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire and the historic West Riding of Yorkshire with the summit lying on the county boundary with Cumbria. It is the fifteenth most prominent hill in England.

Old Man of Coniston

The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells in the English Lake District and the highest point of the traditional County Palatine of Lancashire. It is at least 2,632.61 feet (802.42 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man. The mountain is popular with tourists and fell-walkers with a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The mountain has also seen extensive copper and slate mining activity for eight hundred years and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north-east slopes. There are also several flocks of sheep that are grazed on the mountain.

Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England.

Cross Fell

Cross Fell is the highest mountain in the Pennine Hills of Northern England and the highest point in England outside the Lake District. It is located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies within the county of Cumbria and the historic county boundaries of Cumberland.

Teesdale

Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven.

Holwick Human settlement in England

Holwick is a small village in Teesdale, north-east England. Located in the Pennine hills, it consists of a few houses spread along a road in the pattern of a linear settlement. As the population taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100, details are maintained in the parish of Lunedale.

Black Hill (Peak District)

Black Hill is a hill in the Peak District, England.

Mickle Fell

Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It is 2,585 feet (788 m) high and lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about ten miles south of Cross Fell. After Cross Fell, Mickle Fell is the highest Marilyn within the North Pennines designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Blake Fell

Blake Fell is a hill in the Western part of the English Lake District. It is the highest point of the Loweswater Fells, an area of low grassy hills with steep sides overlooking the lake of Loweswater. The fell also overlooks the village of Loweswater, from which it can be climbed. An alternative route is from the Cogra Moss reservoir on its western slopes. Because the Loweswater Fells are a separate geographical unit, Blake Fell is a Marilyn. It is located in the Parish of Lamplugh.

Nine Standards Rigg

Nine Standards Rigg is the summit of Hartley Fell in the Pennine Hills of England. It lies near the boundary between Cumbria and North Yorkshire, a few miles south-east of Kirkby Stephen and approximately 770 yards (700 m) outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Nine Standards Rigg lies within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The name is derived from a group of cairns, the Nine Standards, located near the summit. The fell is listed as Nine Standards Rigg, rather than Hartley Fell, in Alan Dawson's book The Hewitts and Marilyns of England.

Cauldron Snout

Cauldron Snout is a cascade on the upper reaches of the River Tees in Northern England, immediately below the dam of the Cow Green Reservoir. It is well upstream of the High Force waterfall, and is on the boundary between County Durham and Cumbria, England. The waterfall lies within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and European Geopark.

Stainmore Human settlement in England

Stainmore is a remote geographic area in the Pennines on the border of Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name is used for a civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, including the villages of North Stainmore and South Stainmore. The parish had a population of 253 in the 2001 census, increasing to 264 at the Census 2011. Stainmore Forest stretches further east into County Durham, towards Bowes.

Moorhouse and Cross Fell

Moorhouse and Cross Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Wear Valley district of west County Durham and the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is contiguous with Upper Teesdale SSSI to the east and Appleby Fells SSSI to the south. The area covered extends roughly from an arc through the villages of Gamblesby, Leadgate and Garrigill southward as far as Milburn in the west and Cow Green Reservoir in the east. It includes the whole of Cross Fell, the summit of which, at 893 metres asl, is the highest point in the Pennines and in England outside the Lake District.

Lune Forest

Lune Forest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Teesdale district of west Durham, England. In the north, where it adjoins the Upper Teesdale and Appleby Fells SSSIs, it extends from Mickle Fell eastward almost as far as Harter Fell, above the hamlet of Thringarth. Its southern limit is marked by the River Balder, upstream from Balderhead Reservoir, where it shares a boundary with Cotherstone Moor SSSI to the south. Grains o' th' Beck Meadows and Close House Mine SSSIs are entirely surrounded by Lune Forest, but do not form part of it.

Moor House-Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve covers 7,400 ha of the Pennine moors in the north of England. It straddles Cumbria and County Durham. It was designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1976.

Harthope Moss

Harthope Moss, also known as Chapel Fell is a mountain pass in the English Pennines. The pass divides Weardale to the north and Teesdale to the south. The unclassified road over the pass connects the A689 at St John's Chapel, County Durham with the B6277 near Langdon Beck in Upper Teesdale, County Durham. It is the equal highest paved pass in England with the Killhope Cross on the A689, approximately 10 miles to the north on the other side of Burnhope Seat.