Topographical Regions, Sub-Regions and Groups

 

Understanding the English Land-Mass

 

Introduction

From the earliest to the latest, the contents of hill listings have been organised into smaller segments, commonly comprising districts, regions, sections or groups.  Doing so makes it easier to find any individual hill and also breaks up the listing into more manageable units. 

We have opted to use Regions, Sub-Regions and Groups for our split of England.  Each follows topography. 

Topography dictates that a land mass is split via watercourses and low points in the terrain, i.e. a col.  If following the course of a river to its source it will be the height and position of the col at or near the source that will be the point at which the Group, Sub-Region and Region is formed.  The advantage of using a topographic system to organise a land mass into smaller units is that the natural lay of the land is represented, with each listed hill connected topographically to its parent peak.  This is not the case for listings that split up the land based on man-made structures, such as roads, or administrative boundaries, such as parish or county units. 

 

England 

The majority of the land that comprises the country of England is commanded by its highest peak, Scafell Pike, which topographically falls under the parentage of Yr Wyddfa, grandfathered by Beinn Nibheis.  The bulk is therefore sandwiched between the bwlch (col) of Yr Wyddfa (height of c46m positioned at NS 75816 78296, beside the Forth & Clyde Canal in Scotland) and the col of Scafell Pike (height of 66.1m positioned at SJ 63688 33945, in a field on the outskirts of Market Drayton in Shropshire). 

However, national borders do not always align with topographical ones.  For instance, the national border between Scotland and England is located circa 130km south of the bwlch of Yr Wyddfa in some places, giving the majority of the Southern Uplands to Scotland.  Conversely, the national border between Wales and England is located circa 60km west of the col of Scafell Pike in certain spots, giving significant portions of the eastern Welsh land-mass to England. 

There are other topographical axis points in Britain beside the two discussed above.  For the purpose of cataloguing and listing hills, such axis points can be used to divide the whole of Britain into manageable topographical units.  However, as the English land-mass represents just one portion of Great Britain, it is prudent to include the remaining land within Scotland and Wales to properly evaluate the essential characteristics of Regions, Sub-Regions and Groups, by doing so an adequate level of consistency and robustness is achieved. 

 

Topographical Regions, Sub-Regions and Groups 

Our topographical split of England comprises four Regions belonging to Scafell Pike, labelled B1-B4.  Region B1 is predominantly in Scotland, Region B2 represents what is roughly referred to as The North, Region B3 the primary portions of what are called The Midlands and The South, and Region B4 what is largely known as The West Country, inclusive of Cornwall, the homeland of the Cornish people. 

These four Regions are ordered into Sub-Regions, again following the rules of topography, which comprise of topographical Groups parented by a significant peak.  This topographical system is mirrored by Scottish Regions (A1-4) and the Welsh Regions (C1-2), which are similarly divided into various Sub-Regions and a multitude of Groups. 

Our topographical system was devised through an initial evaluation at the Group level.  We worked on the principle that Groups should complement one another in terms of both the topographical significance and the absolute quantity of hills contained within the Group boundaries. 

We used the following as rough guidelines:

• Groups should be defined by the topographical limits of parent peaks (i.e. limited by the parent peak col and the surrounding watercourses), aiming to hold no more than circa 100 P30 hills (i.e. prominence of 30m).  A parent peak is considered significant in terms of height and prominence within the context of its Sub-Region or Region.
• Regions should be defined by major topographical axis points, typically holding circa 1000-2500 P30 hills.
• Sub-Regions should be considered for topographical areas containing circa 250-850 P30 hills (i.e. a buffered middle-ground) in order to provide an ordered structure to Regions.
• Regions, Sub-Regions and Groups are defined by natural topography, irrespective of man-made changes.

We have chosen to use the name of the highest peak in each Group as that for the Group name.  Further research and evaluation may mean that some names are amended in the future. 

In summary, we have created manageable Groups of hills based on Regions and Sub-Regions dictated by watercourses and topographical axis points.  The land-mass commanded by Scafell Pike is divided into 103 Groups, but when England’s national borders are applied, 29 Groups in Region B1 are lost to Scotland, which although somewhat countered by gains belonging to the Welsh land-mass, with 2 Groups fully acquired and 11 others partially acquired, still reduces the total to 87 Groups.  The end result is a use of natural occurring features to define units of land that are manageable for hill-listing purposes. 

 

Aled Williams and Myrddyn Phillips (August 2026) 

 

Sub-Region B1A Groups:
1.       Hendry's Corse [Scotland]
2.      Scald Law [Scotland]
3.      Pyked Stane Hill [Scotland]
4.      Windlestraw Law [Scotland]
5.      Meikle Says Law [Scotland]
6.      Spartleton [Scotland]  

Sub-Region B1B Groups:
7.      Hill of Stake [Scotland]
8.     Nutberry Hill [Scotland]
9.      Tinto [Scotland]
10.  Green Lowther [Scotland]
11.   Queensberry [Partial]
12.  Culter Fell [Scotland]
13.  White Coomb [Scotland]
14.  Broad Law [Scotland]
15.   Andrewhinney Hill [Scotland]
16.  Ettrick Pen [Scotland]
17.   Wisp Hill  [Scotland]

Sub-Region B1C Groups:
18.  Cairnsmore of Carsphairn [Scotland]
19.  Colt Hill [Scotland]
20. Wether Hill [Scotland]
21.  Bogrie Hill [Scotland]
22. Criffel [Scotland]
23. Corserine [Scotland]
24. Merrick [Scotland]
25.  Craiglee [Scotland]
26. Lamachan Hill [Scotland]
27.  Cairnsmore of Fleet [Scotland]
28. Beneraird [Scotland]
29. Cairn Pat [Scotland]

Sub-Region B1D Groups:
30. Cushat Law
31.  The Cheviot [Partial]
32. Windy Gyle [Partial]
33. Tosson Hill
34. Peel Fell [Partial]
35.  Cauldcleuch Head [Scotland]
36. Sighty Crag [Partial]

Sub-Region B2A Groups:
37.  Skiddaw
38. Grasmoor
39. High Stile
40. Great Gable
41.  Scafell Pike
42. Black Combe
43. The Old Man of Coniston
44. High Raise
45.  Helvellyn
46. High Street
47.  Tarn Crag
48. Grayrigg Forest

Sub-Region B2B Groups:
49. Cross Fell
50. Burnhope Seat
51.   Chapel Fell Top
52.  Great Shunner Fell
53.  Wild Boar Fell
54.  Whernside
55.  Ingleborough
56.  Pen y Ghent
57.  Urra Moor
58. Bishop Wilton Wold

Sub-Region B3A Groups:
59.  Pendle
60. Lad Law
61.  Cowpe Moss
62. Black Hill
63. Kinder Scout
64. High Neb
65.  Axe Edge
66. Shining Tor
67.  The Roaches

Sub-Region B3B Groups:
68. The Wolds
69. Whatborough Hill
70. Arbury Hill
71.   Bardon Hill
72.  The Wrekin
73.  The Cleeve
74.  Haddington Hill
75.  Therfield
76.  Beacon Hill

Sub-Region B3C Groups:
77.  Beacon Batch
78. Long Knoll
79.  Milk Hill
80.Walbury Hill
81.  Oakshott Hanger
82. St. Boniface Down
83. Butser Hill
84. Black Down
85. Leith Hill
86. Botley Hill
87. Detling Hill

Sub-Region B4A Groups:
88.Dunkery Beacon
89. Stoodleigh Beacon
90. Lype Hill
91.  Staple Hill
92. Lewesdon Hill
93. Eggardon Hill

Sub-Region B4B Groups:
94. Great Links Tor
95. High Willhays
96. Cosdon Hill
97. Broad Barrow
98. Ryder's Hill
99. Bronn Wenneli
100. Kilmar Tor
101. Hen's Barrow
102. Karn Menelys
103. Karnan Bygh

Sub-Region C1A Groups:
14.  Moel y Gamelin [Partial]

Sub-Region C1B Groups:
15.   Raw Head [Partial]
16.  Craig Berwyn [Partial]
17.   Foel Cedig [Partial]

Sub-Region C2A Groups:
35.  Mynydd Du [Partial]

Sub-Region C2B Groups:
38. Cilfaisty [Partial]
39. Bigwn [Partial]
40. Fforest Glud [Partial]
41.  Gwaun Ceste [Partial]
42. Stiperstones [Partial]
43. Brown Clee
44. Worcestershire Beacon
45.  May Hill [Partial]