Pike of Stickle

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Pike of Stickle
Pike of Stickle as seen from the neighbouring fell of Loft Crag
Elevation	709 m (2,326 ft)
Location	Cumbria, England
Range	Lake District
Prominence	c. 54 m
Topo map	OS Explorer OL6
OS grid reference	NY273073
Listing	Hewitt, Wainwright, Nuttall

Pike of Stickle, also known as Pike O’ Stickle, is a fell in the English Lake District. It reaches a height of 709 metres (2,326 feet) and is situated in the central part of the national park in the valley of Great Langdale. The fell is one of the three fells (the others being Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag) which make up the picturesque Langdale Pikes, one of the best known areas in Lakeland.

Pike of Stickle rises steeply from Langdale, culminating in a narrow tapering summit which gives excellent views of the head of the valley, the fells of Bow Fell and Crinkle Crags showing well. The fell is invariably climbed from Great Langdale with either the New or Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotels as the starting points. There are a number of routes, the most common ascent being a path that slants across the hillside from the New hotel passing between Thorn Crag and Gimmer Crag and then turning left at the col. A quieter route is by Troughton Beck; the walker starts from the Old hotel and goes four kilometres towards the head of the valley before bearing right and following a zig-zag path at the side of Troughton Beck. This route gives the walker an unusual view of the fell from this unfrequented side. There is another route directly up the Stickle Stone Shoot: this route is steep and has become severely eroded in recent years and is no longer recommended as a means of ascent or descent.

Pike of Stickle is famous as the site of a neolithic stone axe factory; it is situated on the scree slope on the steep southern slope of the fell and is one of the most important prehistoric axe factories in Europe. The factory was set up here because of a vein of greenstone, a very hard volcanic rock, which comes to the surface around the head of the valley. Evidence of axe manufacture have been found in many areas of Great Langdale but it is the screes of Pike of Stickle which have yielded the most discoveries. There is a small cave at the top of the Stickle Stone Shoot near the summit of the fell which was part of the stone axe factory.