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| Calders (Howgill Fells) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Calders (Howgill Fells) |
| Elevation m | 674 |
| Prominence m | 69 |
| Range | Howgill Fells |
| Location | Cumbria, England |
| Grid ref | SD723985 |
Calders (Howgill Fells) is a summit on the Howgill Fells ridge between Sedbergh and Dentdale in Cumbria, England, lying within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the modern administrative area of South Lakeland District. The fell forms part of a narrow, grass-clad skyline that links higher tops such as The Calf and Riggindale Knotts, and is frequently visited in conjunction with nearby ridges by walkers traversing routes between Dent and Sedbergh. Its position affords views to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Lake District National Park, and southward towards the Pennines.
Calders occupies a mid-point on the north–south spine of the Howgill Fells, sitting north of The Calf and south of Arant Haw, and adjacent to ridges leading to Whernside-facing slopes and the headwaters of River Lune. The summit has a broad, grassy dome typical of the Howgill Fells and a modest topographic prominence relative to neighboring high points such as The Calf and White Hill, which leads to Calders being included on some hill lists like the Nuttall-style registers and in guides alongside Wainwright-style itineraries. Drainage from the fell contributes to tributaries feeding both the River Rawthey and the River Dee, linking the area hydrologically to Sedbergh and Dentdale valleys.
The bedrock beneath Calders belongs to the Ordovician and Silurian successions that underlie much of the Howgill Fells, including turbiditic sandstones and siltstones correlated with the regional Skiddaw Group and Windermere Supergroup facies, and metamorphic influences from the Caledonian orogeny. The geomorphology of the fell exhibits U-shaped glacial troughs and broad interfluves shaped during the Last Glacial Maximum by ice movement that also sculpted neighboring uplands like the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Surface features include peat patches, stone runs and occasional limestone pavement remnants where the Ingletonian and Dent Group sequences appear, contributing to the varied substrate that influences soil drainage and vegetation patterns shared with local upland landscapes such as Garsdale and Cautley Spout environs.
Calders supports upland grassland and acid heath communities characteristic of the Howgill Fells mosaics, with vegetation assemblages comparable to protected sites in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Lake District National Park. Typical species include Heather (Calluna vulgaris) stands, Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) patches, and grasses such as Festuca spp., providing habitat for upland birds including Red Grouse and Meadow Pipit, and acting as foraging ground for raptors like the Common Buzzard and Peregrine Falcon. Peat and montane soils around Calders contribute to carbon storage functions emphasized by conservation bodies including Natural England and regional trusts such as the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, while grazing regimes influenced by local farming communities affect ecological condition in ways addressed by agri-environment schemes and Higher Level Stewardship-type measures.
Human presence around Calders reflects long-term pastoralism and transhumance practices linking Sedbergh market traditions with hill-farming in Dentdale and Garsdale, and the fell lies within landscapes shaped by historic enclosure, drove routes, and common grazing rights dating to medieval and early modern periods. Archaeological traces in nearby Howgill uplands include medieval field systems, shepherds’ shielings and boundary markers comparable to finds in Bowland and Dales districts, while transport infrastructure such as the Settle–Carlisle line and historic ways between Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh reflect regional connectivity. 19th-century topographic surveys by figures associated with the Ordnance Survey and accounts in guidebooks by writers linked to Alfred Wainwright-type traditions contributed to Calders’ inclusion in recreational literature and local history narratives.
Calders is popular with hikers undertaking linear and circular routes connecting Sedbergh, Dent, and the principal summits of the Howgill Fells, often combined with ascents of The Calf and Arant Haw. Access is facilitated by public footpaths and rights of way registered under statutes administered by Cumbria County Council and intersecting bridleways used by mountain bikers and fell-runners from clubs in Kendal and Lancaster, while nearby car parks at Sedbergh and Dent provide common start points. Guidebooks by publishers such as Ordnance Survey and independent authors map routes that traverse peat hags and grassy ridges, and events like local fell races link Calders to competitive outdoor traditions practiced across the Pennines and Lake District.
The name Calders derives from Old Norse and Old English elements comparable to place-names found in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales, reflecting Scandinavian settlement patterns that also produced names such as Garsdale and Killington. The Howgill landscape around Calders appears in regional literature and in paintings by artists inspired by the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales schools, and the fell figures in oral histories and place-based identities centred on towns like Sedbergh and villages such as Cowgill and Dent. Toponymic studies by scholars affiliated with institutions like the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford place Calders within broader naming systems tied to drainage features and pastoral land use evident across northern England.
Category:Howgill Fells Category:Mountains and hills of Cumbria