Wild Boar Fell

Wild Boar Fells imposing outline

Height: 708m (2,323ft)

Prominence: 344m (1,128ft)

Region: Yorkshire Dales

Classifications: Nuttall, Hewitt, Marilyn

Summit feature: Large cairn

Times climbed: 1

Related trip report:

Mallerstang Edge, Swarth Fell & Wild Boar Fell - 05/02/2017

A trig pillar once stood within the shelter

Wild Boar Fell is located in Mallerstang on the eastern edge of Cumbria. It is either the 4th-highest fell in the Yorkshire Dales or the 5th, depending on whether nearby High Seat is counted or not.

According to Wainwright, the fell gets its name from the wild boar which inhabited the area over 500 years ago. But it would be unusual in an area of Viking settlement, for its old Norse name to have disappeared, when the names of many of its features, such as the Nab, Dolphinsty, etc., retain their Norse origin.

Wild Boar fell was named in a late-17th-century boundary description as both Wilbright and Wilbert fell and it must be doubtful that Wild Boar is the original name. We should instead look to the Old Norse tongue for an original name. In earlier times, probably up to the mid 19th century, the Millstone Grit, or gritstone, which forms the flat top of the fell, was used for making millstones.

Wild Boar Fell is a dramatic sight and a landmark for many miles around. Approached from the north it gives the misleading impression that it is a peak. But from the south of the dale at Aisgill its true profile is seen, not dissimilar to Ingleborough, with steep sides and a flat top (consisting of a cap of millstone grit).

 A common feature of many Pennine dales and Lake District fells are the groups of cairns on the high ground. There is a fine cluster of ‘stone men’ on Wild Boar Fell. There seems little agreement on when, why, or by which people such cairns were built.

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