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Ancient sites you can walk to in the Lake District

Updated

History on foot

Four places where you can walk into the remains of prehistoric and Roman Britain: a stone circle, a Roman fort, a hillfort and the fells where Neolithic stone axes were quarried, each on a route we already publish. For each one: what is actually there to see, how sure anyone is about its date, and the walk.

For Castlerigg, Hardknott and Carrock Fell, every date and description comes from the site’s official record on Historic England’s National Heritage List, and every visiting rule from whoever looks after it. Where a record dates the kind of monument rather than the site itself, we say so. The Langdale axe factories have no entry of their own on that list, so their section names what each fact rests on instead: the National Park Authority, the British Museum and another site’s record.

The 4 sites at a glance
SiteWhat it isDated on its own record?Our walk
Castlerigg stone circleA stone circleNo: stone circles in general, about 2400–1000 BC7.3 km, 171 m up
Hardknott Roman fortA Roman fortYes: built under Hadrian, AD 117–3814.7 km, 961 m up
Carrock Fell hillfortA hillfortNo: hillforts of its kind, mostly 4th century BC to 1st century AD21.0 km, 877 m up
Langdale axe factoriesStone axe quarriesNo: another site’s record puts the axe trade in the Neolithic period, about 3400–1800 BC, a range for the period rather than these quarries12.1 km, 884 m up

Castlerigg stone circle

A ring of 38 large stones on a plateau above Keswick, with the fells all round it.

What you can see

How sure is the date?

Historic England’s record gives no date for Castlerigg itself. It says stone circles, where they have been excavated, date from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, about 2400 to 1000 BC. English Heritage says it was “probably built around 4,500 years ago, in the late Neolithic period”.

What was it for?

Nobody knows for certain. Historic England says the uses of stone circles are not fully understood, though they clearly mattered for ritual, and that some circles appear to mark the seasons. Its record does not say Castlerigg is one of them, so anything calling it an observatory goes further than the evidence.

Getting there

Castlerigg Stone Circle (from Keswick): 7.3 km, 171 m of ascent, graded Easy overall (hardest: distance, steepness, terrain and navigation). It starts at Keswick town centre. The walk goes right past it.

Before you go

Historic England list entry 1011362 (Castlerigg stone circle’s official record); English Heritage’s visitor page, read 27 September 2026.

Hardknott Roman fort

The Roman fort of Mediobogdum, on a spur of Hardknott Fell beside the Hardknott Pass, between 230 and 290 m up.

What you can see

How sure is the date?

This one is dated. Historic England’s record says the fort was built under Hadrian (AD 117–38), emptied or thinned out under Antoninus Pius, reoccupied in the mid-2nd century and abandoned by the end of it. Its garrison, from inscriptions and excavation, was the Fourth Cohort of Dalmatians, 500 infantry.

What it guarded

It stood on the Roman road from Ambleside to Ravenglass, and its short life meant it was never remodelled: Historic England calls it a rare example of an unmodified 2nd-century fort.

Getting there

Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott): 14.7 km, 961 m of ascent, graded Severe overall (hardest: steepness). It starts at Goat Crag layby, foot of Hardknott Pass (Eskdale side). A planned route: drawn but not yet walked or checked by us. The walk passes within about 100 m of it. In good weather it is worth stepping off to go in.

Before you go

Historic England list entry 1009349 (Hardknott Roman fort’s official record); English Heritage’s visitor page, read 27 September 2026.

Carrock Fell hillfort

A tumbled stone rampart enclosing the summit ridge of Carrock Fell, about 245 m from east to west: the third largest hillfort in the north of England, on Historic England’s record.

What you can see

How sure is the date?

Historic England’s record gives no date for this hillfort itself. It says hillforts of this kind are Iron Age, most built and used between the 4th century BC and the 1st century AD, often with signs of earlier use. The cairns inside are of a Bronze Age type, about 2000 to 700 BC.

What damaged it

The record puts the damage down to stone robbing, some of it for the medieval shieling. The popular story that the Romans destroyed the fort is not in it.

Getting there

Carrock Fell High Pike, Knott and Great Calva: 21.0 km, 877 m of ascent, graded Severe overall (hardest: distance, steepness and terrain). It starts at Carrock Fell Foot. The walk climbs through the fallen rampart to the summit.

Before you go

Historic England list entry 1011592 (Carrock Fell hillfort’s official record), read 27 September 2026.

Langdale axe factories

The fells where Neolithic people quarried stone for axes, which the National Park Authority says are over 5,000 years old. Unlike the other three, they have no entry of their own on Historic England’s National Heritage List: a search of the list on 27 September 2026 found none. That list records designated sites, not everything archaeologists have recorded.

What you can see

How sure is the date?

Not from a record of its own. Historic England’s record of Skelmore Heads near Urswick, a site on one of the routes the axes travelled south, says they came from the Langdale axe factories during the Neolithic period, which it gives as about 3400 to 1800 BC. That range describes the period, not these particular quarries. The National Park Authority says the remains are over 5,000 years old.

Where the axes went

The National Park Authority says the polished axes were so prized that they travelled across Britain. At Skelmore Heads, Historic England records roughed-out stone axes, four of them hidden in a limestone crevice beside the hillfort.

Getting there

Langdale Pikes Round: 12.1 km, 884 m of ascent, graded Severe overall (hardest: steepness). It starts at Great Langdale (New Dungeon Ghyll). The round goes over Pike of Stickle.

From the valley instead

The National Trust’s Mickleden Valley Trail is an easy out-and-back along the valley floor from its Old Dungeon Ghyll car park (the round above starts at New Dungeon Ghyll): 6.1 km, about two hours, on a track that is stony in places. It looks up at Pike of Stickle, where the Trust says rejected axe heads have been found on the slopes; it stays in the valley and does not go to the workings. Dogs on leads: livestock graze there.

Before you go

No National Heritage List entry of its own. Sources: Lake District National Park Authority — 20 must-know facts; Lake District National Park Authority — special qualities; Historic England — Skelmore Heads (list entry 1014875); British Museum — axe POA.190.6, Ehenside Tarn; National Trust — Mickleden Valley Trail, read 27 September 2026.

Sources

Read on 27 September 2026. We re-read them every year.

  1. Historic England — Castlerigg stone circle and two bowl barrows, St. John's Castlerigg and Wythburn (list entry 1011362)
  2. Historic England — Hardknott Roman fort, bath-house, parade ground and tribunal, 4 Roman roads, Roman quarries and 3 cairns, Eskdale (list entry 1009349)
  3. Historic England — Large univallate hillfort, two round cairns and medieval shieling on Carrock Fell (list entry 1011592)
  4. English Heritage — Castlerigg stone circle
  5. English Heritage — Hardknott Roman fort
  6. Natural England — CRoW Act 2000 access layer (open access land). © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
  7. Lake District National Park Authority — 20 must-know facts
  8. Lake District National Park Authority — special qualities
  9. Historic England — Skelmore Heads (list entry 1014875)
  10. British Museum — axe POA.190.6, Ehenside Tarn
  11. National Trust — Mickleden Valley Trail