Dunmail Raise

Dunmail Raise, on the A591, is a north-south pass rising to 782 feet and just south of Thirlmere. The village of Grasmere is on view from the top of the raise.

The pass is named after Dunmail who was the Norse leader of Cumberland before Malcolm, king of Scotland, and Edmund, Saxon king of England defeated and supposedly killed him in battle in 945. Legend says Dunmail’s body is buried under a pile of stones on the summit of the pass in an island separating the two sides of the road. This is, however, in conflict with another story that says he lived after the battle and died on the way to Rome.

Another famous person associated with this spot is the poet Wordsworth who was thrown from a coach here when the driver lost control of it. A pill-box and underground nuclear monitoring site (both now disused) are on the summit. Raise cottage, a climbing club hut, is located on the road.

Dunmail Raise, on the A591, is north of Grasmere, near the southern edge of Thirlmere.

Photos courtesy of Tony Richards and Ann Bowker

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