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

Eldon Hill (SK 115 811) – 400m Sub-Four reclassified to Four

There has been a reclassification to the listing of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England, with the summit height, col height and their locations, the drop and status of the hill derived by Joe Nuttall who produced a summit analysis programme using LIDAR, and then by LIDAR analysis initially conducted by Jim Bloomer and subsequently by Aled Williams. 

LIDAR image of Eldon Hill (SK 115 811)

The criteria for the list that this reclassification applies to are: 

The Fours – The 400m Hills of England.  English hills at or above 400m and below 500m in height that have 30m minimum drop, accompanying the main listing of The Fours are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being reclassified from the 400m Sub-Four category, 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.  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.

The Fours - The 400m Hills of England by Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams

The name the hill is listed by is Eldon Hill, and it is adjoined to the Kinder Scout group of hills, which are situated in the Peak District (Region 36: The Southern Pennines), and it is positioned with minor roads to its north-west and south-west, and the A623 road farther to its south, and has the small village of Peak Forest towards the south.

When the 2^nd edition of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018, this hill was included as a 400m Sub-Four and listed with an estimated c 28m of drop, based on the 470m summit spot height that appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map, and an estimated c 442m col height based on interpolation of 10m contouring between 440m – 450m. 

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

However, it was not until LIDAR became available that the details for this hill could be accurately re-assessed.  The LIDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) technique produced highly accurate height data that is now freely available for much of England and Wales. 

LIDAR summit image of Eldon Hill

LIDAR col image of Eldon Hill

Therefore, the reclassification of this hill from 400m Sub-Four status is due to LIDAR analysis, resulting in a 470.7m summit height and a 440.1m col height, with these values giving this hill 30.6m of drop, which is sufficient for it to be classified as a Four.

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Kinder Scout

Name:  Eldon Hill

OS 1:50,000 map:  110

Summit Height:  470.7m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference:  SK 11561 81143 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  440.1m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SK 12172 81178 (LIDAR)

Drop:  30.6m (LIDAR)

 

For the additions, deletions and reclassifications to The Fours – The 400m Hills of England reported on Mapping Mountains since the December 2013 publication of the 1^st edition of this 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

 

Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips (February 2022)