Great Mell Fell
Great Mell Fell
Rising like a singular, isolated dome north of Ullswater and sitting detached on the outer fringes of the Eastern Fells, Great Mell Fell is a mountain of distinct personality. The fell's ancient nomenclature roots deeply into linguistic history, appearing in records as Melfel as early as 1279. It derives from the old Brittonic (Cumbric) word męl—equivalent to the modern Welsh moel—meaning a bare hill, with the Norse 'Fell' appended later. Records show that it has been explicitly distinguished from its close neighbour, Little Mell Fell, by their relative footprints since at least the fifteenth century.
The geography of the fell charts a fascinating historical narrative. To the northwest lie the quiet remnants of an old military rifle range, complete with a weathered target control building. Utilised extensively by the War Department (and later the Ministry of Defence) through the chaotic war years and well into the 1950s, this military presence once saw the entirety of the fell closed off to the public behind a perimeter of red danger signs.
The summit view towards Blencathra and the Vale of Keswick
The structural top of Great Mell Fell is uniquely crowned by a low earthwork mound, designated on detailed Ordnance Survey mapping as an ancient tumulus. Believed to be a small Bronze Age burial site, this historic mound is now topped by a small, modern stone cairn. While the mountain traded its historically bare slopes for a rich, vibrant tapestry of woodland at its lower baseline and scattered, wind-sculpted larches higher up, its completely isolated position out on the plain transforms the summit into an absolute world-class vantage point.
Peering out from the tumulus splits the Cumbrian horizon wide open, treating walkers to an extraordinary, uninterrupted panorama. The high vantage yields magnificent perspectives looking directly across the valleys toward the majestic, jagged profiles of Blencathra, the deep trough of the Vale of Keswick, and the sweeping green walls of the Dodds running south along the skyline.
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