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Sty Head, Nether Wasdale
Sty Head
Styhead Pass
civil parish:-   Nether Wasdale (formerly Cumberland)
civil parish:-   Borrowdale (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   pass
coordinates:-   NY21910951 (etc) 
1Km square:-   NY2109
10Km square:-   NY20

photograph
CAY96.jpg (taken 23.6.2014)  
photograph
CAY98.jpg (taken 23.6.2014)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 74 8) 
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
evidence:-   old map:- Gents Mag 1751
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Black Lead Mines in Cumberland, and area, scale about 2 miles to 1 inch, by George Smith, published in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1751.
image
GM1309.jpg
"Sty Head the only Passage from this Vale of Borrodale into Warsdale &so to Ravenglass A very rocky bad One"
gap between knobbly hillocks; mountainslocks 
item:-  JandMN : 114
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Donald 1774 (Cmd) 
placename:-  Stye Head
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, 3x2 sheets, The County of Cumberland, scale about 1 inch to 1 mile, by Thomas Donald, engraved and published by Joseph Hodskinson, 29 Arundel Street, Strand, London, 1774.
image
D4NY20NW.jpg
"Stye Head"
area 
item:-  Carlisle Library : Map 2
Image © Carlisle Library
evidence:-   unlikely descriptive text:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821) 
placename:-  Styhead
source data:-   Guide book, A Guide to the Lakes, by Thomas West, published by William Pennington, Kendal, Cumbria once Westmorland, and in London, 1778 to 1821.
image WS21P293, button  goto source
Account of Ennerdale, late 18th century 
Page 293:-  "..."
"... As he approaches the vale of Ennerdale, ... he will find the rugged scenery of the country gradually refining; and as he winds round the foot of the Pillar, he will discover a vista, which cannot fail to strike the most indifferent observer with astonishment and pleasure."
"The mountains which serve to heighten this scene, and enhance its surprise, are Sty-head, Honister-crag, Wastdale, the Pillar, and Red-pike. ..."
evidence:-   old map:- West 1784 map
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A Map of the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, engraved by Paas, 53 Holborn, London, about 1784.
image
Ws02NY20.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1221.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Green 1810
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Set of prints, soft ground etchings, Sixty Studies from Nature, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, drawn 1808-10, published 1810.
image GN14p080, button  goto source
page 80:-  "..."
"From Stockley Bridge, the road, which is only for foot and horse people, is up the northern side of Sprinkling, and passing Sty Head Tarn to Sty Head, displays a most stupendous view of the Wastdale mountains, having the steep and rugged sides of Lingmell and Great Gable as screens."
"The road descends precipitately on"
page 81:-  "the side of Gable, though not in a line tolerably straight, but bearing occasionally to every point of the compass; and many a traveller will be affrighted with the prospect of rocks, which, wildly projecting from the surface of the mountain, seem ready to hurl destruction on him; at last he meets with ground somewhat less pependicular, and more polished than that he has left, for it is of soft turf; and, travelling a mile or two, arrives among the peaceful inhabitants at Wastdale Head."
evidence:-   old map:- Otley 1818
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, The District of the Lakes, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Jonathan Otley, 1818, engraved by J and G Menzies, Edinburgh, Scotland, published by Jonathan Otley, Keswick, Cumberland, et al, 1833.
image
OT02NY20.jpg
"Sty Hd."
item:-  JandMN : 48.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Fielding and Walton 1821 (plate 27) 
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Print, coloured aquatint, Sty Head Tarn, Top of Sty Head, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Theodore H A Fielding, published by R Ackermann, 101 Strand, London, 1821.
image  click to enlarge
FW0127.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.193 in A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes. 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 1993.R566.27
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Fielding and Walton 1821 (plate 28) 
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Print, coloured aquatint, Sty Head, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Theodore H A Fielding, published by R Ackermann, 101 Strand, London, 1821.
image  click to enlarge
FW0128.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.194 in A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes. 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 1993.R566.28
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Otley 1823 (8th edn 1849) 
placename:-  Sty Head Pass
source data:-   Engraving, outline view of mountains, Mountains of Wast Water as seen from Nether Wasdale, drawn by T Binns, engraved by O Jewitt, opposite p.22 of A Descriptive Guide of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 8th edition, 1849.
image  click to enlarge
O80E13.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1180.14
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
placename:-  Sty Head Pass
source data:-   Print, woodcut outline view, Mountains of Wast Water, by Jonathan Otley, Keswick, Cumberland, 1830.
image  click to enlarge
OT2E07.jpg
Printed on p.31 of A Concise Description of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 5th edition, 1834.  "THE MOUNTAINS OF WAST WATER: as seen from Nether Wasdale."
"Buckbarrow Pike / Middlefell / Yewbarrow / Great Gable / Sty Head Pass / Lingmell / Great-end Crag / Scawfell Pike / Scawfell / Screes"
item:-  JandMN : 48.8
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
source data:-   Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick, Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49, latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes.
image OT01P129, button  goto source
"... The highest part of the road at Sty Head"
image OT01P130, button  goto source
Page 130:-  "is 1250 feet above the first house in the vale, and here a magnificent view presents itself: the small valley of Wasdale Head appearing as if sunk below the general level, and the sea at a distance seeming to rise in the horizon. The lake of Wast Water is not yet in sight, being hid by a projecting mountain on the left, called Lingmell. ..."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Stye Head
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P070, button  goto source
Page 70:-  "..."
"... the ascent up Aaron, which leads in a zig-zag course, till it reaches the Stye Head, one thousand two hundred and fifty feet above the valley. ..."
image FD01P172, button  goto source
Page 172:-  "Stye Head.- From this hamlet [Wasdale Head], the tourist must ascend the road which winds along the side of Great Gable to the summit of the pass, having the Pikes of Scafell on the right."
evidence:-   old map:- Ford 1839 map
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Lake District of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, and by R Groombridge, 5 Paternoster Row, London, 3rd edn 1843.
image
FD02NY21.jpg
"Sty Head"
Between hill hachures. 
item:-  JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, Sty Head, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, 1857.
image  click to enlarge
AS0563.jpg
"Sty Head"
page number  "47"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.389.63
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   perhaps old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, perhaps Sty Head, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, August 1852.
image  click to enlarge
AS0326.jpg
"Aug"
page number  "20"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.390.26
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
placename:-  Sty Head Pass
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, outline sketch, Sty Head, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, 1852.
image  click to enlarge
AS0327.jpg
"Sty Hd. Pass."
page number  "21"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.390.27
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Martineau 1855
item:-  wild boar
source data:-   Guide book, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855; published 1855-76.
image MNU1P152, button  goto source
Page 152:-  "... The Sty Head Pass descends upon Seathwaite,- ... being the last dwelling at the head of the dale."
"... the hill above it [Borrowdale] being called Sty Head, where the swine were wont to feed in the summer, and fall down in autumn into this dale, where they fed upon nuts and acorns. Here are large flocks of sheep; and anciently were mines of lead and copper. Here also, in a very high and perpendicular rock called Eagle Crag, is every year an eyrie or nest of eagles." ... But the traveller will find no swine near Sty Head now, summer or winter. No creature comes to drink at the tarn,- the little clear rippling lake, where the mountaineer throws himself down to rest on the bank, when heated by the ascent from the vales. ..."
image MNU1P153, button  goto source
Page 153:-  "... The solitude is almost equally impressive whether the traveller comes up from the one dale or the other; but perhaps the most striking to him who comes from Wastdale, because he has rather more lately left the dwellings of men. He ascends from Wastdale Head, by the steep path clearly visible from below, up the side of Great Gable. At the top of the pass, the view behind is extremely fine,- the dale lying 1,000 feet below, while the precipices of Scawfell rise 2,000 feet over head. The rill from Sprinkling Tarn is close by, and it leads to this Sty Head Tarn, where the boars used to come to drink. Long after the boars were gone, the eagles came hither: and this was one of their last haunts. ..."
evidence:-   old text:- Martineau 1855
item:-  altitude, Sty Head
source data:-   Guide book, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855; published 1855-76.
image MNU1P179, button  goto source
Page 179:-  "PASSES."
": : Height above the Level of the Sea"
"Sty Head : Cumberland : 1250"
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, black and white, Sty Head from Lingmell, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0778.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS441
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, sepia, Lingmell from Sty Head, Nether Wasdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0650.jpg
internegative at lower left:-  "H. Bell."
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS313
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, sepia, Sty Head, Nether Wasdale and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s?
image  click to enlarge
HB0344.jpg
Looking across Styhead Tarn down to Derwent Water. 
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS710
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Heaton Cooper 1905 (edn 1908) 
placename:-  Styhead Pass
source data:-   Print, colour halftone, Nearing the Top of Styhead Pass, Wastdale, Cumberland, from a watercolour painting by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 2nd edn 1908.
image  click to enlarge
HC0135.jpg
Opposite p.92 of The English Lakes, painted by Alfred Heaton Cooper, described by William T Palmer. 
printed at tissue opposite the print:-  "NEARING THE TOP OF STYHEAD PASS, WASTDALE"
printed at signed lower left:-  "A HEATON COOPER"
item:-  JandMN : 468.35
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Marr 1916
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Photograph, halftone print, Concorted and brecciated Volcanic Ash SE of Sty Head Tarn, Cumberland, 1916.
image  click to enlarge
MA1205.jpg
item:-  JandMN : 173.13
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Seascale 1920s-30s
placename:-  Stye Head Pass
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, outline view, mountains from Seascale, published by Edward Burrow and Son, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, 1920s-30s.
image  click to enlarge
SES113.jpg
"PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF LAKELAND AS SEEN FROM SEASCALE."
"... Stye Head Pass between Great Gable & Lingmell 1600 ..."
item:-  JandMN : 1079.13
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- MacBride 1922
placename:-  Styhead Pass
source data:-   Print, colour, Styhead Pass, to Wastwater, by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, 4-6 Soho Square, London, 2nd edn 1928.
image  click to enlarge
MB0118.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.113 in Wild Lakeland by MacKenzie MacBride. 
printed at bottom:-  "STYHEAD PASS (TO WASTWATER)"
signed at lower left:-  "A. HEATON COOPER"
item:-  JandMN : 195.20
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Black 1856 (23rd edn 1900) 
placename:-  Sty Head Pass
source data:-   Print, lithograph, Outline Views, Haws and Wastwater - Mountains as seen from Burn-Banks near the Foot of Hawes Water, and Mountains as seen near Nether Wastdale at the First Bridge on the road to Wast-Water, by J Flintoft, Keswick, Cumberland, engraved by R Mason, Edinburgh, Lothian, about 1900.
image  click to enlarge
BC08E6.jpg
"... 5 Sty Head Pass ..."
item:-  JandMN : 37.21
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Harwood 1842
placename:-  Stye Head
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Borrowdale from Stye Head, Cumberland, engraved and published by John Harwood, 26 Fenchurch Street, London, 1846.
image  click to enlarge
HRW217.jpg
printed at bottom left, right, centre:-  "London, J. Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street. / No.715 Septr. 12th. 1846. / Borrowdale from Stye Head. / Scawfell."
item:-  JandMN : 166.17
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Black 1841 (3rd edn 1846) 
placename:-  Sty Head Pass
source data:-   Print, engraving, outline view, Mountains as seen from Burn Banks near the Foot of Hawes Water, and Mountains as seen near Strands in Wastdale at the First bridge on the Road to Wast Water, by J Flintoft, Keswick, Cumberland, engraved by R Mason, Edinburgh, Lothian, about 1846.
image  click to enlarge
BC02E8.jpg
"... 5 Sty Head Pass ..."
item:-  JandMN : 32.12
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   outline view:- Tattersall 1836
placename:-  Stye Head
item:-  heron
source data:-   Print, engraving, Stye Head Tarn, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by George Tattersall, engraved by W F Topham, published by Sherwood and Co, Paternoster Row, London, about 1836.
image  click to enlarge
TAT131.jpg
The print is captioned with mountain names and acts as an outline view. 
Tipped in opposite p.78 of The Lakes of England, by George Tattersall. 
printed at bottom:-  "STYE HEAD TARN. / London Pubd. April 15th. 1836, by Sherwood &Co."
printed at bottom left to right:-  "Stye Head. / Great End. / Scawfell Pikes. / Lingmell. / Great Gavel."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1204.32
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Rose 1832-35 (vol.1 no.72) 
placename:-  Sty Head
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Scawfell Pikes, from Sty Head, Cumberland, drawn by Thomas Allom, engraved by J C Bentley, published by Fisher, Son and Co, London, 1833.
image  click to enlarge
PR0027.jpg
vol.1 pl.72 in the set of prints, Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland Illustrated. 
printed at bottom left, right, centre:-  "T. Allom. / J. C. Bentley. / SCAWFELL PIKES, FROM STY HEAD, CUMBERLAND. / FISHER, SON &CO. LONDON, 1833."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.27
Image © see bottom of page

photograph
CAY97.jpg (taken 23.6.2014)  
photograph
BQO15.jpg  Stretcher box, Mountain Rescue kit.
(taken 12.5.2009)  
photograph
BQO16.jpg  Stretcher box, Mountain Rescue kit.
(taken 12.5.2009)  
hearsay:-  
 Edmund Bogg commented, 1898:-
"There is just now a strong agitation for the construction of a road over this lonely pass. For my part I fail to see who will benefit by this desecration except perhaps a few innkeepers."

Bogg 1898
hearsay:-  
 A cloud called the Borrowdale Sop sometimes forms over Sty Head. It is a weather sign: moving towards Great Langdale it is a sign of rain; moving to the east of Borrowdale, a sign of fair.
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