List of Wainwrights

Wainwrights and Wainwright Outlying Fells
Holme Fell in the Lake District National Park is the 2nd lowest Wainwright at 317 metres (1,040.0 ft).
Highest point
Peak	Scafell Pike, Southern Fells
Elevation	3,209 ft (978.1 m)
Prominence	2,992 ft (912.0 m)
Geography
Location	214 Lake District Wainwrights 116 Lake District Outlying Fells

Wainwrights are the 214 English peaks (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66). They all lie within the boundary of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, and all but one (Castle Crag) are over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height.^[a] Over two million copies of the Pictorial Guides have been sold since their publication.^[1] In 1974, Wainwright published a supplementary volume The Outlying Fells of Lakeland (1974), which includes another 116 summits (described in 56 walks); these are the Wainwright Outlying Fells.^[2][3]

Summiting all of the Wainwrights is a popular form of peak bagging in the Lake District, along with the Birketts. Because both lists are based on historical books, unlike, for example, the Munros, their constituents remain fixed, regardless of revisions to height or other metrics. In this regard, they are similar to the Scottish lowlands, Donalds. There are 214 Wainwrights, of which 209 are also classed as one of the 541 Birketts. Wainwrights cover a wide range of heights, from major mountains such as the highest Wainwright, Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3,209 ft), to Castle Crag, the smallest Wainwright at 290 metres (951 ft). Wainwright did not state any rules about what should be included in his guides, choosing instead to note his walks according to his favour and their relevance in the landscape, never himself considering the summiting of all of them to be an important accomplishment for others.

The Long Distance Walkers Association ("LDWA") holds a register of walkers who wish it to be recorded that they have completed the Wainwrights.^[4] The first recorded continuous round of all 214 Wainwrights was completed by Alan Heaton between 29 June and 8 July 1985 starting and finishing at Keswick Moot Hall, with a total time of 9 days and 16 hours.^[5] Joss Naylor completed the round in 7 days in 1986^[6] and held the record until 20 June 2014 when Steve Birkinshaw completed the round in 6 days and 13 hours, involving 320 miles (515 km) and 118,000 ft (36,000m) of ascent.^[7] Birkinshaw published an account of his run as There is No Map in Hell: The Record-Breaking Run Across the Lake District Fells (2017, Vertebrate Publishing: ISBN 978-1910240946). Birkinshaw's record was broken on 20 June 2019 when Paul Tierney completed the round in 6 days 6 hours 4 minutes.^[8] On 12 to 17 June 2021, Sabrina Verjee set a new record of 5 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.^[9] The current record was set by John Kelly on 2 to 7 May 2022 with a time of 5 days, 12 hours and 14 minutes.^[10]

This list is from the Database of British and Irish Hills ("DoBIH") in October 2018, and are peaks the DoBIH marks as being Wainwrights ("W").^[b][13] DoBIH also updates the measurements as surveys are recorded, so these tables should not be amended unless the entire DoBIH data is re-downloaded; these measurements may differ slightly from the "By Book" section, which are from older sources.

This list is from the Database of British and Irish Hills ("DoBIH") in October 2018, and are peaks the DoBIH marks as being Wainwright Outlying Fells ("WO").^[b] DoBIH also updates the measurements as surveys are recorded, so these tables should not be amended unless the entire DoBIH data is re-downloaded; these measurements may differ slightly from the "By Book" section, which are from older sources. It was noted in 2023 that the list had been created erroneously, giving incorrect prominence figures for non-Birkett fells. This was corrected in April 2024, and a few updates to heights added from DoBIH.

The Eastern Fells are centred around Helvellyn and primarily consist of a north-south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley.

The Far Eastern Fells occupy a broad area to the east of Ullswater, Kirkstone Pass and are bordered by the M6 motorway.

The Central Fells are situated in the heart of the Lake District, surrounded by the other ranges. The range extends from the ridge between Derwentwater and Thirlmere in the north, to the famous rock peaks of the Langdale Pikes in the south.

The Southern Fells occupy a large area to the south of Great Langdale, Borrowdale, Wasdale and include Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England.

The Northern Fells cover a circular area north of Keswick. The range is bordered to the west by Bassenthwaite Lake, the River Greta in the south and Caldew river bounds the eastern edge of the group, flowing away toward Carlisle. It is the smallest group by total number of hills.

The North Western Fells occupy an oval area beneath the Buttermere and Borrowdale valley systems.

The Western Fells are centred around Great Gable and form a triangular area between Buttermere and Wasdale.

• Wainwright, A (1955). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 1: The Eastern Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2454-4.
• Wainwright, A (1957). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 2: The Far Eastern Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2455-2.
• Wainwright, A (1958). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 3: The Central Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2229-0.
• Wainwright, A (1960). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 4: The Southern Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2457-9.
• Wainwright, A (1962). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 5: The Northern Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2458-7.
• Wainwright, A (1964). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 6: The North Western Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2459-5.
• Wainwright, A (1966). A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 7: The Western Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 0-7112-2460-9.

The DoBIH uses the following codes for the various classifications of mountains and hills in the British Isles, which many of the above peaks also fall into:^[18][19]

suffixes:
= twin

• Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles
• List of hill passes of the Lake District
• The Outlying Fells of Lakeland
• List of Birketts in the Lake District

• The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH), the largest database of British Isles mountains
• Hill Bagging UK & Ireland, the searchable interface for the DoBIH
• Google Map of All Wainwrights
• Map of all 214 Wainwrights by Height
• Lake District Walks - Wainwright Fells 214
• Alfred Wainwright Books & Memorabilia