The Boys' Brigade Mountaineering Club

Scafell is the 2nd highest mountain in England. It is linked to its higher neighbour Scafell Pike by a narrow ridge called Mickledore, which cannot easily be reached because of a band of rock called Broad Stand, which is a rock climb that would have to be descended and, walkers have to make a long detour to get around it. The shortest alternative is to scramble down a steep scree-filled gully with unstable rock called Lord's Rake, but most walkers prefer to take a longer safer route via Foxes Tarn.

Its name should was originally spellt and should be pronounced Scawfell, as this was the most common spelling used before about 1920, but following a mistake made on an earlier map in 1774, the Ordnance Survey used the current incorrect spelling from 1867 onwards, and as a result, the name is now (more often than not) mispronounced (except by local people). The summit boasts a large cairn on the top of a short rocky ridge.

See its entries on Walkhighlands or Wikipedia or view it from above on Google Earth.

Sca probably came from Skalli (Old Norse) meaning Bald Head and is applied to a bare summit, similar to the meaning of Moel in Welsh. Fell comes from Fjall (Old Norse) meaning Mountain. Therefore Scafell is normally taken to mean Bare Summit Mountain or Treeless Mountain.

Sca could alternatively derive from Skali (Old Norse) meaning a Hut, Sheiling or Temporary Shelter for shepherds, but this would apply only to the lower slopes of the mountain, where sheep grazed in the summer months, not to the whole mountain.