Kisdon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kisdon | |
|---|---|
 Kisdon seen from the Pennine Way above Keld | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 499 m (1,637 ft) |
| Prominence | c. 184 m |
| Parent peak | Great Shunner Fell |
| Listing | Marilyn |
| Coordinates | 54°23′37″N 2°09′31″W / 54.39357°N 2.15859°W |
| Naming | |
| Language of name | Old Norse |
| Geography | |
  Kisdon | |
| Parent range | Pennines |
| OS grid | SD898998 |
| Topo map(s) | OS Landrangers 92, 98 OS Explorer Outdoor Leisure 30 |
Kisdon, also called Kisdon Hill, is a fell situated in upper Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in North Yorkshire, England.
Kisdon was named by early Norse settlers. Kisdon Farm is on the southern slopes above Straw Beck. The fell is unusual in that it is an isolated area of high ground with no ridges connecting it to other fells. This came about at the end of the last ice age, when the moraine left by the retreating glacier blocked the original course of the River Swale on the west side of the fell and diverted it to its present course, forming a gorge to the east and leaving Kisdon isolated from other high ground. Kisdon's isolation gives it the status of a Marilyn, even though it has only a modest height of 499 metres (1636 feet).
Another unusual feature of Kisdon is that it has no official footpath to the highest point, despite being crossed by two busy rights of way high up on the fell. One of these is the Pennine Way between the hamlets of Thwaite and Keld, which reaches a height of 420 metres on the eastern shoulder of the fell; while the bridleway between Keld and Muker, also known as the Old Corpse Road because it was formerly used as a corpse road to transport bodies for burial in consecrated ground lower down the valley, crosses the fell on the western side at a height of 470 metres. Kisdon lies within a band of Yoredale limestone. It is on Kisdon that the band attains its maximum thickness of 40 metres.[1]
