Mapping Mountains – Hill Reclassifications – The Fours - The 400m Hills of England

Horn Crag (NY 318 099) – 400m Sub-Four addition

There has been an addition to the listing of The Fours - The 400m Hills of England due to LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.  This list takes in all English 400m hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop.  The list is co-authored by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams and the 2^nd edition of the booklet containing this list was published by Mapping Mountains Publications on the 24^th April 2018.

LIDAR image of Horn Crag (NY 318 099)

Accompanying the main list of The Fours - The 400m Hills of England are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being added to the 400m Sub-Fours.  The criteria for which are all English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 20m or more and below 30m of drop. 

 

Prior to LIDAR analysis this hill was listed with an estimated c 17m of drop based on an estimated c 422m summit height and an estimated c 405m col height, with both heights based on interpolation of 10m contouring that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, with the col contours between 400m – 405m on OS Maps, which is the recent replacement for OS Get-a-map.

Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map

The name the hill is listed by is Horn Crag and it is situated in the Lake District which constitutes Region 34, and is positioned in the Central and Western Fells which are a part of Section 34B, with its Cardinal Hill being Scafell Pike (NY 215 072).  The hill is positioned between Calf Crag towards the west and Helm Crag towards the south-east and has the A591 road and the village of Grasmere towards the south-east.

As the summit of the hill is a part of designated open access land it can in theory be approached from a number of directions, with access on its ridge from Helm Crag being popular, and access on to this same ridge from the opposing steam valleys of Green Burn to the north-east and Far Easedale Gill from the south-west also feasible.

The addition of Horn Crag to 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales.

LIDAR analysis gives the hill the following details:

Horn Crag

Summit Height:  422.0m

Summit Grid Reference:  NY 31853 09924

Col Height:  400.5m

Col Grid Reference:  NY 31738 09993

Drop:  21.6m

Therefore, the addition of this hill to 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 422.0m summit height and a 400.5m col height, with these values giving this hill 21.6m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a 400m Sub-Four.

The full details for the hill are:

Cardinal Hill:  Scafell Pike

Name:  Horn Crag

OS 1:50,000 map:  90

Summit Height:  422.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  NY 31853 09924 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  400.5m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  NY 31738 09993 (LIDAR)

Drop:  21.6m (LIDAR)

For the additions, deletions and reclassifications to The Fours reported on Mapping Mountains since the December 2013 publication of the list by Europeaklist please consult the following Change Registers:

The Fours

The Fours – 400m Sub-Four

The Fours – 390m Sub-Four

The Fours – 390m Double Sub-Four

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (March 2019)