Skiddaw Massif NMP

The Skiddaw Massif Project was started in June 2001 and completed in December 2001. It formed part of English Heritage's National Mapping Programme (NMP), undertaken by the Aerial Survey section in the York Office. The project area lies within the Lake District National Park in Cumbria and parts are designated by English Nature as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The landscape is dominated by industrial mining and quarrying sites, but also has some prehistoric and Roman remains. The survey area comprises 10, 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey map sheets, covering 250 square kilometres.

These fells, seemingly cut adrift from the rest of the Lake District, form the northernmost tip of the Lake District National Park. The survey of this area was prompted by the recent, detailed field survey of the mining remains in Roughton Gill and by the identification of a causewayed enclosure on Green How, Aughertree Fell.

The Iron Age enclosure group on Aughertree Fell was recently rescheduled but the identification of a possible Neolithic causewayed enclosure, unique in the northwest, on Green How, has necessitated further revision. The mapping of the Fell will contribute to the understanding of the relationships between these enclosures and the complex interweaving pattern of prehistoric field boundaries, droveways, holloways and other features.
 
As well as prehistoric activity the survey also recovered traces of more recent interventions in the landscape. If you look closely at the photograph on the right you will see several rectangular mounds spread across this steep hillside. These are medieval pillow mounds, artificial rabbit warrens, and are the first group to be recorded in the National Monuments Record for this area.
 
The northeastern part of the Skiddaw massif is dominated by Carrock fell. The summit of this steep-sided hill is crowned by the stone rampart of a hillfort that is unparallelled in the Lake District. The date of this fort remains uncertain but it could be pre-Iron Age. 

The images used on this page are copyright English Heritage unless specified otherwise. For further details of any photographs or other images and for copies of these, or the plans and reports related to the project please contact the NMR English Heritage's public archive.

For further information on a project or any other aspect of the work of the Aerial Survey team please contact us at: AerialSurvey@english-heritage.org.uk.