Mapping Mountains – Summit Relocations – The Fours – The 400m Hills of England

The Frith (SK 062 697) 

There has been confirmation of a Summit Relocation to a hill that is listed in 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 from LIDAR analysis conducted by Myrddyn Phillips. 

LIDAR image of The Frith (SK 062 697)

The criteria for the list that this summit relocation 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 list are three categories of sub hills, with this hill being included in 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 The Frith, and it is adjoined to the Axe Edge group of hills, which are situated in the Peak District, and it is positioned with minor roads to its north and south, the A53 road to its west and the A515 road and the B5053 road to its east, and has the town of Buxton towards the north. 

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

When the 1^st edition of the The Fours was published by Europeaklist in December 2013, this hill was listed as a 400m Sub-Four with an estimated c 28m of drop with an estimated c 450m summit height positioned at SK 062 697, and it was this position that was also given for the summit of this hill when the 2^nd edition of the The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published by Mapping Mountains Publications in April 2018, with an accompanying note stating:

The c 450m height assigned to this hill is taken to the edge of a fenced compound that houses a covered reservoir, which is heighted as 452m on the OS enlarged Geograph map.  As the protocol for ‘The Fours’ is not to accept covered reservoirs as being part of a hill, The Frith is listed as a Sub-Four with c 28m of drop.

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 The Frith (SK 062 697)

LIDAR analysis gives the highest ground on this hill as 452.8m positioned at SK 06249 69773.  However, this is a part of a covered reservoir and protocols dictate that as this is deemed a relatively recent man-made construct such ground is discounted from the height of a hill.

The height produced by LIDAR analysis to the highest remaining natural ground of this hill is 451.0m positioned at SK 06253 69768, and this position in relation to the covered reservoir comes within the parameters of the Summit Relocations used within this page heading, these parameters are:

The term Summit Relocations applies to when the high point is positioned in a different field, to a different feature such as a conifer plantation, within a different map contour, a different point where a number of potential summit positions are within close proximity, when natural ground or the natural and intact summit is confirmed compared to a higher point such as a raised field boundary or covered reservoir that is considered a relatively recent man-made construct, or a relocation of approximately 100 metres or more in distance from either the position of a map spot height or from where the summit of the hill was previously thought to exist.

Therefore, the summit height produced by LIDAR analysis is 451.0m and this is positioned at SK 06253 69768.  This position is not given a spot height on the contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer map and is approximately 5 metres south-eastward from the high point of the covered reservoir.

 

The full details for the hill are:

Group:  Axe Edge

Name:  The Frith

OS 1:50,000 map:  119

Summit Height:  451.0m (LIDAR)

Summit Grid Reference (New Position):  SK 06253 69768 (LIDAR)

Col Height:  421.6m (LIDAR)

Col Grid Reference:  SK 06033 69346 (LIDAR)

Drop:  29.4m (LIDAR)

 

Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams (October 2023)