Swirl How

Swirl How and Prison Band

Height: 802m (2,631ft)
Prominence: 120m (394ft)
Region: Southern Fells
Classifications: HuMP, Nuttall, Hewitt, Wainwright, Birkett
Summit feature: Large cairn
Times climbed: 4
Related trip reports:
Dow Crag via the South Rake & the Coniston Fells - 09/12/2018
A Greenburn Round - 23/07/2017
A Coniston Round - 03/12/2016 
The Coniston Round - 17/05/2014

Swirl How's superb summit

What Wainwright said:

"Swirl How, although not quite the highest of the Coniston fells, is the geographical centre of the group, radiating splendid ridges from a peaked summit to all four points of the compass. Its profile is good, for the southern plateau breaks sharply at the summit into a steep and craggy declivity".

There is some doubt in the literature over the altitude of Swirl How. This takes on a greater significance since if it is the high point of the Coniston Fells, it is only so by a small margin. Its near neighbour, The Old Man of Coniston is within a few feet of parity.

Swirl How sends out ridges to the four points of the compass, each leading to further fells. Consequently, it also feeds the headwaters of four valleys.

The summit of Swirl How is marked by a fine cairn on a stony top, built close to the Greenburn edge of the ridge. The view to the north takes in massed ranks of fells while in other directions the Isle of Man, Morecambe Bay and the Pennines can be seen.

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