Firbank Fell

Firbank Fell is a hill in Cumbria, lying between Kendal and Sedbergh. It is best known as the place where George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers, delivered a sermon in 1652. The hill is sometimes called Fox’s Pulpit because of this event. A plaque on a rock marks the spot where Fox stood and spoke. The gathering there is said to have drawn over a thousand people. Fox himself described the afternoon as lasting about three hours. The event on Firbank Fell is recognised as a key moment in the early Quaker movement. Fox’s preaching that day is often seen as the beginning of the Friends movement. The hill has since become a site of pilgrimage for Quakers. A house at Bootham School in York is named after Firbank Fell in honour of this history. The school keeps the memory of Fox’s sermon alive through its buildings. Visitors to Firbank Fell find an open landscape with the commemorative plaque on a rock. The site overlooks the countryside between Kendal and Sedbergh. A path leads to the rock where Fox once stood. The plaque bears an inscription recalling the event of 1652. The surrounding hills and moorland add to the quiet, reflective atmosphere of the place.