Wansfell
| Wansfell | |
|---|---|
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 486.9 m (1,597 ft) |
| Prominence | 147.7 m |
| Parent peak | Caudale Moor |
| Listing | Wainwright |
| Coordinates | 54°26′16″N 2°55′19″W / 54.43779°N 2.92194°WCoordinates: 54°26′16″N 2°55′19″W / 54.43779°N 2.92194°W |
| Geography | |
 Wansfell
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| Location | Cumbria, England |
| Parent range | Lake District, Far Eastern Fells |
| OS grid | NY403051 |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 90, OS Explorer 7 |
Wansfell is a fell in English Lake District situated 1½ miles (2.5 kilometres) east of the town of Ambleside. The fell is part of the long southern ridge of Caudale Moor and occupies the swathe of territory between Ambleside and the Troutbeck valley.
Wansfell has an extensive summit ridge with two tops. The highest point of the fell is called Baystones with a height of 488 m (1,601 ft) while Wansfell Pike, which lies a kilometre to the south west reaches an elevation of 482 m (1,581 ft). Of the two summits Wansfell Pike is regarded as the “true” summit of the fell by many fell walkers because of its superior view, even though it is the lower of the pair.
Despite its modest elevation, Wansfell has significant topographic prominence, being linked to the higher fell of Caudale Moor by a col near the Kirkstone Pass road (A592) with the height of around 339.2 metres. This gives the fell a prominence of 147.7 metres, which means it just fails to achieve the necessary prominence to be a Marilyn.
The summit was deleted from the original list of Marilyns in 1999 but was re-instated due to a change in the recorded summit position. A team including John Barnard surveyed the hill on 18 September 2009 and on 11 February 2010 announced that the summit and col height measurements were 486.9m and 339.2m respectively, and thus it was once again removed from the list of Marilyns.
Wansfell has strong connections to Ambleside and is seen as very much belonging to the town, with Bill Birkett saying “Wansfell is to Ambleside what St. Pauls is to London”. The popularity of the ascent from Ambleside led to severe erosion which became so bad that the path underwent restoration work in the late 1990s using stone blocks. Sections of the path now resemble a very irregular stone staircase.
The fell's name is thought to originate from the Old Norse language and can draw a parallel with Wansdyke in Somerset in that it is named after the main Norse god and means “Woden's Fell”.
Wansfell hosts a popular short fell race which takes place annually between Christmas and the New Year, the winning runner usually taking around 20 minutes to complete the four-kilometre course.
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Wikipedia