The County tops of Britain

As part of my walking objectives I have given myself an aim of climbing all the county tops of, initially, England, and then maybe later Wales and Scotland as well. I have made the job slightly harder by giving myself the aim of, where possible, attaching the tops to sections of my Lands End to John O'Groats walk, so I will have a continuous walk from one county top to another. As of the 15/12/2003, I have included many more of the pre-1964 counties in Wales and England. In the couple of places where there are disagreements about the highest top, these are outlined below the table and both options are included in the table.

County tops are classed as being the highest point in the respective county. There are several lists of these about, but the information held below has been collected from the following places:

TACit Tables: The Hewitts and Marilyns of England
The Relative Hills of Britain - Chapter 6: The County Tops
http://www.36haroldstreet.freeserve.co.uk/waypoints.htm
http://www.walkz.com/mtencount.htm
The excellent Where's the path website; these two gents are not only visiting all of the county tops in England and Wales, but also all of the unitary authorities as well.

This is an amazingly large task, which is going to be very hard to achieve. I estimate that it may take me up to ten years to complete if I decide to link all the tops up, and considerably less if I do not.

This page will get updated as the walks progress.

Note that the maps in the OS Map column refer to Landranger 1:50,000, unless they have OL in front of them, in which case they refer to the appropriate Outdoor Leisure 1:25,000 map.

County Name Height (m) / (feet) OS Map Grid Ref Visited Got map? Attached to LE-JOG

Highland Ben Nevis 1344 4408 LR41 NN 166713 154 489 Yes Yes

Grampian Ben Macdui 1309 4296 LR36/LR43 NN 989989 Yes

Tayside Ben Lawers 1214 3984 LR51 NN 636414 Yes

Central Ben More 1174 3852 LR51 NN 432244 Yes

Strathclyde Ben Cruachan 1126 3695 LR50 NN 069304 Yes

Gwynedd Snowdon - Yr Wyddfa 1085 3560 LR115 SH 609544 405 Yes Yes

Conwy Carnedd Llewelyn 1064 SH 683644 No

Cumbria Scafell Pike 978 3210 LR80/LR90 NY 215072 435 Yes Yes

Westmorland Helvellyn 950 NY 342151 No

Powys Pen y Fan 886 2906 LR160/OL12 SO 012216 173 Yes

Dumfries & Galloway Merrick 843 2766 LR77 NX 428855 Yes

Borders Broad Law 840 2756 LR72 NT 146235 No

Clwyd Cadair Berwyn 830 2723 LR125 SJ 071323 Yes

Denbighshire Moel Sych 827 SJ 066318 No

Northumberland The Cheviot 815 2674 LR74/LR75/OL16 NT 909205 Yes

Lancashire Furness Old Man of Coniston 803 SD 272978 No

Western Isles Clisham 799 2622 LR13/LR14 NB 155073 No

Wrexham Craig Berwyn 790 SJ 077335 No

Durham Mickle Fell 788 2585 LR91/LR92/OL31 NY 804243 Yes

Yorkshire North Riding Mickle Fell 788 2585 LR91/LR92/OL31 NY 804243 Yes

Dyfed Fan Foel 781 2561 LR160 SN 821232 No

Carmarthenshire Fan Foel 770 SN 820223 No

Cardiganshire Plynlimon 752 SN 789869 No

North Yorkshire Whernside 736 2416 LR98 SD 738814 627 Yes Yes

Yorkshire West Riding Whernside 736 2415 LR98 SD 738814 627 Yes Yes

Herefordshire Black Mountain 703 2306 LR161 SO 255350 761 No Yes

Gwent Chwarel y Fan 679 2228 LR161 SO 258294 No

Monmouthshire Chwarel y Fan 679 LR161 SO 259293 No

Lothian Blackhope Scar 651 2137 LR73 NT 315483 Yes

Derbyshire Kinder Scout 636 2088 LR110/OL1 SK 086875 585 Yes Yes

Lancashire Gragareth 627 2057 LR98 SD 687792 Yes

Lancashire2 Green Hill 628 SD 701820 No

Devon High Willhays 621 2038 LR191 SX 580892 No

West Glamorgan Craig y LLyn 600 1969 LR170 SN 907032 776 Yes

Neath Port Talbot Craig y Llyn 600 LR170 SN 906031 776 Yes

Rhondda Cynon Taff Craig y Llyn 590 LR170 SN 909031 776 Yes

Mid Glamorgan Craig y LLyn 588 1929 LR170 SN 909031 776 Yes

West Yorkshire Black Hill 582 1908 LR110 SE 078047 031 144 Yes Yes

Blaenau Gwent Coety Mountain 578 SO 231079 No

Torfaen Cefn Coch 571 SO 221093 No

Bridgend Werfa 568 SS 912947 776 No

Cheshire Shining Tor 559 1834 LR118/OL24 SJ 994737 001 614 Yes

Flintshire Moel Famau 555 LR116 SJ 161626 768 Yes Yes

Caerphilly Twyn Ceilog 552 SO 098127 No

South Yorkshire Margery Hill 546 1791 LR110/OL1 SK 189957 145 685 Yes Yes

Greater Manchester Black Chew Head 542 1778 LR110/OL1 SE 056020 144 Yes Yes

Shropshire Brown Clee Hill 540 1771 LR137/LR138 SO 593866 177 Yes No

Pembrokeshire Foel Cwmcerwyn 536 SN 094311 No

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Common 530 SO 080110 No

Fife West Lomond 522 1713 LR58 NO 197066 Yes

Staffordshire Cheeks Hill 520 1705 LR119/OL24 SK 026699 614 Yes

Somerset Dunkery Beacon 519 1704 LR181 SS 891416 Yes

Orkney Ward Hill 481 1577 LR6/LR7 HY 229022 No

Shetland Ronas Hill 450 1475 LR3 HU 305835 No

Worcestershire Worcestershire Beacon 425 SO 768452 651 No No

Cornwall Brown Willy 420 1377 LR201 SX 158800 Yes

Swansea Mynydd y Betws 373 SN 665095 No

Gloucestershire Cleeve Hill 330 1083 LR163 SO 997246 620 Yes Yes

Cleveland Gisborough Moor 329 1078 LR94 NZ 634123 Yes

Newport Wentwood 309 ST 411943 No

Cardiff Garth Hill 307 ST 103835 777 No

Berkshire Walbury Hill 297 974 LR174 SU 373616 100 Yes Yes

Surrey Leith Hill 295 968 LR187 TQ 139431 599 Yes No

Wiltshire Milk Hill 295 968 LR173 SU 104643 570 Yes Yes

Hampshire Pilot Hill 286 937 LR174 SU 398601 100 Yes Yes

West Sussex Black Down 280 919 LR186/LR197 SU 919296 609 Yes No

Leicestershire Bardon Hill 278 912 LR129 SK 460132 662 Yes Yes

Dorset Pilsdon Pen 277 908 LR193 ST 413011 Yes

Dorset2 Lewesdon Hill 801? ST 435015 No

West Midlands Turner's Hill 270 885 LR139 SO 967887 Yes

Buckinghamshire Haddington Hill 267 876 LR165 SP 890089 204 Yes Yes

Avon Niver Hill 264 866 LR182 ST 565539 125 Yes Yes

South Glamorgan Craig Llysfaen 264 866 LR171 ST 190851 Yes

Oxfordshire Whitehorse Hill 261 855 LR174 SU 301864 321 Yes Yes

Warwickshire Ebrington Hill 261 855 LR151 SP 187426 Yes

Tyne & Wear Currock Hill 259 850 LR88 NZ 107592 Yes

Kent Betsom's Hill 251 823 LR187 TQ 435563 601 Yes Yes

London Botley Hill 250 820 LR187 TQ 407562 601 Yes Yes

East Sussex Ditchling Beacon 248 813 LR198 TQ 331130 596 Yes Yes

Humberside Bishop Wilton Wold 246 807 LR106 SE 821569 Yes

Yorkshire East Riding Bishop Wilton Wold 246 807 LR106 SE 820569 Yes

Hertfordshire Pavis Wood 244 802 LR165 SP 914092 204 Yes Yes

Bedfordshire Dunstable Downs 243 798 LR166 TL 009194 129 Yes Yes

Isle of Wight St Boniface Down 240 786 LR196 SZ 568785 Yes

Northamptonshire Arbury Hill 225 737 LR152 SP 540587 598 Yes Yes

Anglesey Holyhead Mountain 220 LR114 SH 218829 624 Yes Yes

Nottinghamshire2 Silverhill Colliery 205 672 LR120 SK 475625 597 Yes Yes

Nottinghamshire Newtonwood Lane 203 666 LR120 SK 457605 597 Yes Yes

Rutland 65 Cold Overton Park 197 646 LR141 SK 827085 205 Yes Yes

Merseyside Billinge Hill 179 587 LR108 SD 525014 Yes

Lincolnshire The Wolds 168 550 LR113 TF 121964 Yes

Middlesex Bushey Heath 155 509 LR176 TQ 152939 210 Yes Yes

Essex Chrishall Common 147 482 LR154 TL 443362 096 Yes Yes

Cambridgeshire Great Chishill 146 480 LR154 TL 428384 096 Yes Yes

Vale of Glamorgan Tair Onnen 137 ST 036739 No

Suffolk Great Wood 128 419 LR155 TL 786559 105 694 Yes Yes

Norfolk Beacon Hill 102 336 LR133 TG 186413 165 Yes Yes

Huntingdonshire Boring Field 80 263 LR153 TL 047710 184 Yes Yes

Statistics

Total number of counties: 98

Visited counties: 48

Other information

There are the following disagreements:

TACIT has Dorset as Pilsdon Pen, other as Lewesdon Hill.

TACIT has Lancashire as Garageth, other as Green Hill. A consensus of opinion on the uk.rec.walking newsgroup has it as being Green Hill (grid ref. SD 701 820 at 628 metres).

I have been told that the highest point in Nottinghamshire is the newly-landscaped Silverhill colliery at 205 metres (two metres higher than Newtonwood Lane), so I have included that as well.

Some say South Yorkshire top is at Howden Edge (550 metres) - SK 187 943

In 2005 I am planning to do the following county tops. Please note that in the five years I have bene doing this task, there has never been a year in which, at the end of the year, I have walked all the tops that I had planned. Most years I walked more tops than planned, but most of them were ones that I had not been expecting.

Herefordshire
Worcestershire
Lincolnshire
Merseyside
Yorkshire East Riding
Humberside
Cardiff
Newport
Cleveland

In previous years I have ended up doing ones that I was not expecting to, and missing some out, so this should just be seen as a basic guide of the county tops that I am planning to do.

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