The Borrowdale Volcanic Series and Associated Rocks in the Country Between Long Sleddale and Shap

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Abstract
I. Introduction A remote and little frequented group of fells lying some ten miles to the north of Kendal in the eastern part of the Lake District forms the easterly portion of the mountainous country centred on High Street (Mitchell, 1931). The area is traversed by the main watershed of the Lake District extending from Harter Fell by way of Gatesgarth Pass, Tarn Crag, and Grey Crag to Shap summit on the L.M.S. Railway. The highest ground is in the west, where High Street and Harter Fell are more than 2500 feet in altitude. Eastwards the level falls steadily until the escarpment of the Carboniferous Limestone is reached between Shap summit and Bampton. Much of the fell is smooth in outline; but long stretches of craggy ground break the monotonous grass-covered slopes. This is specially noticeable in the valleys, for most of them exhibit signs of severe glaciation, which has resulted in those steep cliffs and bare rock faces which contribute in no small degree to the boldness of the scenery. In the Lowther valley near Shap, the ground is thickly smothered by glacial drift, which forms long mounds and hummocks, effectively masking the solid rocks over large areas. To the south of the watershed, a number of streams flow in a south-south-easterly direction. Of these, the River Sprint in its upper reaches is formed by the junction of several small gills—Wren Gill is the largest—that have their sources on the southern side of Gatesgarth Pass. Almost at once the