High Street Roman Road
High Street is a fell in
the English Lake
District. At 828 metres (2718 feet), its summit is the highest
point in the far eastern part of the national
park. The fell is named after the Roman
road which ran over the summit on its journey between the forts
of Brocavum near Penrith and Galava at Ambleside.
Situated in one of the quieter areas of the Lakes, the High Street
range has quite gentle slopes with a flat summit plateau and it
was these characteristics which persuaded the Roman surveyors to
build their road over the fell tops rather than through the valleys
which at the time were densely forested and marshy thus making
them susceptible to ambushes. The fell's flat summit was also used as a venue for summer fairs by
the local population in the 18th and 19th centuries. People from
the surrounding valleys would gather every year on 12 July to return
stray sheep to their owners; games and wrestling would
also take place as well as horse racing. The summit of High Street
is still known as Racecourse Hill and is so named on maps, and
fell ponies can still be found grazing occasionally on the summit.
The last of the these summer fairs was held in 1835.
The River Kent, which flows south through the town of Kendal before
emptying into Morecambe Bay has its source
on High Street's southern slopes. Dropping a thousand feet in 25
miles, the Kent is reputed to be the fastest flowing river in England. High Street's eastern side is craggy and precipitous as it falls
away towards Haweswater
Reservoir. There are two tarns underneath
the eastern crags – Blea Water and Small Water; Blea Water
stands in a classic mountain corrie and
is the deepest tarn in the
Lake District. It is from this eastern side that the best ascents
of the fell can be undertaken. The climb from Mardale is an exhilarating
ridge walk with spectacular views down into Riggindale which may
be supplemented by the sight of a Golden Eagle – Riggindale
has the only nesting pair of these birds in England. High Street
can also be climbed from Patterdale, Kentmere and Troutbeck: these are
less interesting routes, although the walk from Troutbeck does
follow the line of the Roman road. The full south to north traverse
of the High Street ridge from Ings near Windermere to the Eamont valley at the
northern end of Ullswater is
a tough 30-kilometre hike over twelve summits, and should only
be undertaken by experienced walkers. If you
would like to submit information for this page please
email: webmaster@shapcumbria.co.uk
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