Mellbreak · Mellbreak South Top
5 classifications here — Marilyn, HuMP, Birkett, Synge and Fellranger — belong to lists OpenFell holds only part of, so they have no list page. See how far the coverage goes.

- Height
- 511.1 m · 1,677 ft
- Prominence
- 259 m
- Grid reference
- NY 14843 18613
- Coordinates
- 54.55558, -3.31826
- County / area
- Cumberland
- Region
- Lake District C&W
- OS Landranger
- 89
- OS Explorer
- OL4S
- Summit feature
- flat rock
- Key col
- NY 1425 1737 (252.1 m)
About Mellbreak
Mellbreak stands apart in the western Lake District. Higher fells surround it on every side, yet it keeps its independence: three of those sides are moated by deep marshy ground, and the fourth drops to Crummock Water.
The relationship with the lake defines the hill. Mellbreak runs parallel to Crummock Water and falls sheer into it, which is why it so often appears as the backdrop in photographs of the lake.
Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Mellbreak (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.
Access rights here
Conditional Right to roam: Right to roam only on mapped CRoW open access land.
Permission needed Wild camping: Needs the landowner's permission — the Dartmoor commons are the only exception in England.
General position for England — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in England ·check another location.
Daylight at this summit today
- Sunrise
- —
- Sunset
- —
- Daylight
- —
- Civil twilight ends
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Computed astronomically for 54.556, -3.318. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.
Summit weather live
Loading forecast for the summit (511 m)…
Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
Finding the summit
cairn described by Wainwright no longer present but may have been on small rocky outcrop 55m S at NY 14839 18558 which is 1.3m lower; ground 10m E is of similar height.
The recorded summit point is flat rock. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.
- Survey method
- Abney level
- Record revised
- 03-Jun-24
- Drop measured from
- NY 1425 1737 · 252.1 m
Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.
Get food nearby
3 places to eat or drink within 10 km of the summit, rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Scotland runs its own Food Hygiene Information Scheme, a pass/fail equivalent).
| Place | Type | Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Kirkstile Inn | Pub/bar/nightclub | 4 out of 5 | 2.4 km · N |
| The Wheatsheaf Inn (Cockermouth) | Pub/bar/nightclub | 5 out of 5 | 7.4 km · N |
| Cumbria Kart Racing Club | Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen | 5 out of 5 | 8.2 km · W |
Classifications and ratings are the local authority's own and can be coarse — this is a lead, not a guarantee of opening hours or that food is served to non-residents. Follow a name through to the official rating page to check, and confirm before you rely on it.
Food hygiene data from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (Open Government Licence v3.0). Distances and directions computed by OpenFell from the summit.
The Mellbreak group
One other listed summit sits in the same prominence group, with Mellbreak as the independent hill at its head.
| Summit | Height | Drop |
|---|---|---|
| Mellbreak North Top | 509 m | 63 m |
Grouping is by prominence alone: a summit belongs to the nearest higher Marilyn it connects to without a deeper intervening col. Over a large massif that can gather hills no one would walk in a single day, and which few would describe as parts of the same mountain — it is a measure of independence, not a suggested route.
Nearest listed peaks
| Peak | Height | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mellbreak North Top | 509 m | 1 km |
| Hen Comb | 506.2 m | 1.7 km |
| Rannerdale Knotts | 355 m | 1.9 km |
| Starling Dodd | 633 m | 2.9 km |
| Grasmoor | 851.6 m | 3.2 km |
| Whiteless Pike | 660 m | 3.2 km |