Castle Crag

Castle Crag stands in Borrowdale, a narrow valley in the English Lake District. It is the smallest hill listed in Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, rising just below 300 metres. Wainwright gave it its own chapter because of its bold, rugged shape that dominates the valley. The hill blocks the view up Borrowdale from the south, creating a narrow gorge called the Jaws of Borrowdale. From Keswick and Derwentwater, the crag appears as a steep rocky barrier. The fell is made of layers of siltstone, sandstone and andesite lavas. Its slopes show signs of old quarrying, with pits and levels dug into the rock. High Hows Quarry on the northern side became the home of Millican Dalton, an eccentric man who lived there from the 1920s until his death in 1947. The summit area once held an ancient hill fort, though part of it was lost to quarrying. A small memorial on the highest rock outcrop honours Borrowdale men who died in the First World War. Visitors reach the top by climbing a narrow crack in the southern face. From the summit, the view stretches down Borrowdale to Skiddaw across the lake. To the south, Great Gable and the Scafells frame the head of the Derwent catchment. Below, the steep slopes drop to woods and crags in mid-Borrowdale. Paths from Grange and Rosthwaite lead up easily, and the Allerdale Ramble and Cumbria Way pass nearby along Broadslack Gill.