Lank Rigg

Lank Rigg

Height541m (1,775ft)

Prominence111m (364ft)

RegionWestern Fells

Climbed2 Times

"This is a fell most visitors have never heard of and few know sufficiently well to recognise it on sight. Lank Rigg is an outsider, beyond the accepted limits of Lakeland, too remote to bother about. A column on the summit shows that the Ordnance men have a regard for the place. And Lank Rigg is, after all, within the Lake District National Park boundary." — A. Wainwright

Lank Rigg is a sprawling, gently sloping upland situated south of Ennerdale on the far western fringes of the Lake District. Rich in ancient history, the fell carries the remnants of early human habitation, including a Bronze Age burial tumulus near the top alongside ancient enclosures and cairns scattered across Tongue Bank.

The fell holds a unique place in Lakeland folklore. Upon completing the final volume of his Pictorial Guides, Alfred Wainwright buried a two-shilling piece beneath a stone near the summit, mentioning it in the book so the first walker to arrive could claim the prize. Though retrieved the day after publication, generous fellwalkers still occasionally tuck coins around the high point in tribute to Wainwright's gesture.

The trig pillar looking towards the Pillar range

The summit high point features an Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar set alongside the ancient tumulus. Positioned on the outer edge of the national park, the top offers vast perspectives stretching west towards the West Cumbrian coast, with distant views looking back eastwards towards the high Pillar range.

Trip Reports

Grike, Crag Fell & Lank Rigg24/03/2017

Grike, Crag Fell & Lank Rigg28/03/2015

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