Mountains and hills of England

Last updated February 29, 2024

The mountains and hills of England comprise very different kinds of terrain, from a mountain range which reaches almost 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) high, to several smaller areas of lower mountains, foothills and sea cliffs. Most of the major upland areas have been designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) or national parks. The highest and most extensive areas are in the north and west (including south-west), while the midlands, south-east and east of the country tend to be low-lying.

Northern England

Lake District

The North of England includes the country's highest mountains, in the Lake District of Cumbria. This was one of the first national parks to be established in the United Kingdom, in 1951. The highest peak is Scafell Pike, 978 m (3,209 ft) above sea level, and at least three other summits exceed 3,000 feet or 914.4 metres making them Furth Munros. The mountains are chiefly Ordovician slates and volcanic rocks, with some limestone and outcrops of other rock types. The peaks were catalogued and described in Alfred Wainwright's seminal Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells series of books, which listed 214 summits, which have subsequently become known as Wainwrights.

Border Moors and Forests

North of Hadrian's Wall and the Tyne Valley, the land rises to form the Border Moors and Forests, an upland plateau near the southern Anglo-Scottish border. It includes Kielder Water and the Kielder Forest and parts of the area lie in the Northumberland National Park.

Cheviot Hills

The Cheviot Hills lie north of the Border Moors, which extend into Scotland and could probably be considered part of either the Southern Uplands or the northern Pennines. They are also included in the Northumberland National Park.

Pennines

The North Pennines (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONB) lie south of Hadrian's Wall and the Tyne Gap, and east of the Lake District, from which they are separated by the Eden Valley. These are younger rocks, mostly Carboniferous limestone, and the mountains are characterised by shallower slopes covered with moorland vegetation, culminating in Cross Fell at 893 m (2,930 ft).

South of this, the main line of the Pennines (often called "the backbone of England") continues into the Yorkshire Dales around the Stainmore Gap, a limestone-dominated area of broad valleys and moorland. The Yorkshire Three Peaks are some of the highest summits in the area, which became a national park in 1954.

The Yorkshire Dales end at the Aire Gap, and a short distance to the south is a range of moorland that rises up between the urban cores of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The range has no continuous name - the western part as far as Blackburn is called the West Pennine Moors, the eastern part north of the A646 (including the famous Ilkley Moor) is called the South Pennines, and the small area in between is known as the Forest of Rossendale. These three groups of hills are dominated by peat bogs over Millstone Grit, and merge into the northern part of the Peak District, known as the Dark Peak, around the Tame Valley, Standedge and Holme Valley. These areas of West Yorkshire are marketed as "Brontë country", and the local landscape provided inspiration for many of the works of the Brontë sisters, including most famously, Wuthering Heights .

Fair Snape Fell in the Forest of Bowland FairSnapeFell.jpg — Fair Snape Fell in the Forest of Bowland

The Forest of Bowland AONB, in Lancashire is a western spur of the Pennines.^[1] It is separated from the surrounding Yorkshire Dales and South Pennines by the Aire Gap and Ribble Valley. The isolated Pendle Hill falls within the boundaries of the AONB.

The Peak District was another of the original national parks designated in 1951, and remains one of the most popular in the country, largely because of its proximity to several large cities. One end of the Pennine Way, the first long-distance footpath in the British Isles, is in Edale, in the Peak District, while the other end is at Kirk Yetholm, in the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

The southern part of the Peak District (White Peak), around Buxton and the Hope Valley, is another limestone area, with a number of caves, especially around Castleton. The Peak District marks the southern end of the Pennine chain, as it peters out into the lowlands of the English Midlands around the Trent Valley.

Howgill Fells

The Howgill Fells are an area of uplands in Cumbria lying between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. The area falls within the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales National Park ^[2] and are sometimes considered as a western spur of the Pennines.^[3]

Orton Fells

The Orton Fells are an area of limestone uplands in Cumbria lying between the Lake District and the Eden Valley. The area mostly falls within the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales National Park with a small part lying in the Lake District National Park. Like the Howgill Fells, the area may be considered a western spur of the Pennines as it predominantly lies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.^[4]

North York Moors

Near the North Yorkshire coastal towns of Whitby and Scarborough, and extending inland as far as Thirsk, the North York Moors are one of the few major upland areas in eastern England. Reaching a maximum height of 454 m (1,490 ft) at Urra Moor, the North York Moors are home to the RAF Fylingdales radar base. The Jurassic limestone rocks are rich in fossils, which are regularly exposed by erosion of the sea cliffs.

Midlands

The English Midlands are predominantly flat in character, although isolated hills such as Turners Hill can command extensive views. Upland areas lie to the north and west, with parts of the Peak District extending to the north while the Shropshire Hills in the west, close to the Welsh border, reach heights of over 500 metres (1,600 feet), including the Long Mynd, Clee Hills and Stiperstones ridge. Wenlock Edge, running through the middle of the Shropshire Hills AONB, is a long, low ridge, which extends for over 15 miles (24 km). Further south, the Welsh border reaches over 700 metres (2,300 feet) high, at Black Mountain, which is thus the highest point in Herefordshire.

The Malverns are made from some of the oldest rock in England (around 680 million years old) and extend some 8 miles (13 km) through two West Midlands counties Worcestershire and Herefordshire as well as northern Gloucestershire in the southwest. The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at 425 m (1,394 ft) above sea level (OS Grid reference SO768452).

The Cotswolds extend over 90 miles (140 km), and over six counties (Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire), but centred on Gloucestershire. They reach 330 m (1,083 ft) high at Cleeve Hill, and were designated an AONB in 1966.

Areas of lower hills in the Midlands include Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire and the Lincolnshire Wolds.

South East England

South East England, including East Anglia and London, is predominantly low lying. The underlying rock is chalk, and meaningful elevations are only attained in the Chiltern Hills (Haddington Hill: 267 m [876 ft]), the North Wessex Downs (Walbury Hill: 297 m [974 ft]), the North Downs (Leith Hill: 294 m [965 ft]) and the South Downs (which includes the chalk cliffs at Beachy Head and Seven Sisters).

South West England

South of Bristol and Bath, the Mendip Hills (Black Down: 325 m [1,066 ft]) are the first group of hills in South West England. The Purbeck Hills (and their continuation onto the Isle of Wight) line the south coast, and a number of other groups of hills are also present in the area: the Quantock Hills (Will's Neck: 384 m [1,260 ft]), Blackdown Hills, Dorset Downs, Salisbury Plain and Cranborne Chase. Glastonbury Tor, although of only modest height (158 m [518 ft]), is significant for its claimed association with Arthurian legend.

The highest and largest upland areas in the south-west are, however, the moors of the South-west Peninsula. Exmoor, in northern Somerset, and abutting the Bristol Channel, reaches 519 m (1,703 ft) at Dunkery Beacon, and is famous as the setting of Lorna Doone . Dartmoor, in Devon, reaches over 600 metres (2,000 feet) (High Willhays: 621 m [2,037 ft]), and was the landscape for The Hound of the Baskervilles .

Bodmin Moor, further to the south-west, is smaller (Brown Willy: 420 m [1,378 ft]), and is perhaps best known for the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Like Dartmoor, it is a granite plateau, whereas Exmoor is formed from Devonian sediments.

Related Research Articles

The Peak District is an upland area in England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivided into the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west of the district, and the White Peak covers central and southern areas. The highest point is Kinder Scout. Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.

Derbyshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south and west, and Cheshire to the west. Derby is the largest settlement, and Matlock is the county town.

The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "backbone of England" because of its length and position, the range runs from Derbyshire and Staffordshire in the North Midlands to Northumberland in North East England, near the Anglo-Scottish border. The range starts near the valley of the River Trent to the south and extends northwards across the Peak District, South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, and North Pennines, ending at the Tyne Gap. Beyond the gap are the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills, which are included in some definitions of the range.

The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or dales, in the Pennines, a range of hills in England. They are mostly located in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into Cumbria and Lancashire; they were historically entirely within Yorkshire. The majority of the dales are within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, created in 1954. The exception is the area around Nidderdale, which forms the separate Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for 268 miles (431 km) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest National Trail, it is according to The Ramblers, "one of Britain's best known and toughest".

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire. It is a western outlier of the Pennines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark Peak</span>

The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinder Scout</span> Mountain in northern England, UK

Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and National Nature Reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District, in Derbyshire and the East Midlands.

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally means uncultivated hill land, but also includes low-lying wetlands. It is closely related to heath, although experts disagree on what precisely distinguishes these types of vegetation. Generally, moor refers to highland and high rainfall zones, whereas heath refers to lowland zones which are more likely to be the result of human activity. Moorland habitats mostly occur in tropical Africa, northern and western Europe, and neotropical South America. Most of the world's moorlands are diverse ecosystems. In the extensive moorlands of the tropics, biodiversity can be extremely high. Moorland also bears a relationship to tundra, appearing as the tundra and the natural tree zone. The boundary between tundra and moorland constantly shifts with climatic change.

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.

Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It has a maximum elevation of 788 m (2,585 ft). It lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about 10 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).

England comprises most of the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, in addition to a number of small islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. England is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of mainland Britain, divided from France only by a 33 km (21 mi) sea gap, the English Channel. The 50 km (31 mi) Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, directly links England to mainland Europe. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel.

Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the British Isles. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. Geologists refer to the whole suite of rocks that encompass the individual limestone beds and the intervening mudstones as the Millstone Grit Group. The term Millstone Grit Series was formerly used to refer to the rocks now included within the Millstone Grit Group together with the underlying Edale Shale Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Pennines</span> Region of moorland and hills in northern England

The South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. In the west it includes the Rossendale Valley and the West Pennine Moors. It is bounded by the Greater Manchester conurbation in the west and the Bowland Fells and Yorkshire Dales to the north. To the east it is fringed by the towns of West Yorkshire whilst to the south it is bounded by the Peak District. The rural South Pennine Moors constitutes both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Yorkshire</span>

The Geology of Yorkshire in northern England shows a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the geological period in which their rocks were formed. The rocks of the Pennine chain of hills in the west are of Carboniferous origin whilst those of the central vale are Permo-Triassic. The North York Moors in the north-east of the county are Jurassic in age while the Yorkshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands. The plain of Holderness and the Humberhead levels both owe their present form to the Quaternary ice ages. The strata become gradually younger from west to east.

The Durham Dales is the name given to a large area of landscape in the west of County Durham, consisting primarily of the Durham portion of the North Pennines, in England.

Aire Gap is a pass through the Pennines in England formed by geologic faults and carved out by glaciers. The term is used to describe a geological division, a travel route, or a location that is an entry into the Aire river valley.

The Natural Areas of England are regions, officially designated by Natural England, each with a characteristic association of wildlife and natural features. More formally, they are defined as "biogeographic zones which reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes and the wildlife in different parts of England...".

A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, boundaries. They are defined by Natural England, the UK government's advisors on the natural environment.

The South Pennines Regional Park was a proposed national park that would cover the South Pennines area in Northern England, encompassing parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. It would also adjoin the borders of two existing national parks; the Yorkshire Dales in the north and the Peak District in the south. The area was named as a prospective national park in the 1940s when the idea of creating national parks was being carried forward, but it was never given the same status as the Peak District, North York Moors or the Yorkshire Dales.

References

↑ Great Britain. Alan G. Ogilvie. 2 January 2014. ISBN 9781107626539 . Retrieved 9 November 2017.
↑ Rushby, Kevin (31 July 2016). "Bigger and better: the expanded Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks await". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
↑ Great Mountain Days in the Pennines: Cicerone Press. Terry Marsh. 22 March 2013. ISBN 9781849658911 . Retrieved 27 October 2019.
↑ A Nature Conservation Review. Derek Ratcliffe. 26 January 2012. ISBN 9780521203296 . Retrieved 20 January 2019.

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[Great_Britain-1] Great Britain. Alan G. Ogilvie. 2 January 2014. ISBN 9781107626539 . Retrieved 9 November 2017.

[2] Rushby, Kevin (31 July 2016). "Bigger and better: the expanded Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks await". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2019.

[Great_Mountain_Days_in_the_Pennines:_Cicerone_Press-3] Great Mountain Days in the Pennines: Cicerone Press. Terry Marsh. 22 March 2013. ISBN 9781849658911 . Retrieved 27 October 2019.

[A_Nature_Conservation_Review-4] A Nature Conservation Review. Derek Ratcliffe. 26 January 2012. ISBN 9780521203296 . Retrieved 20 January 2019.

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