| North Pennines | |
|---|---|
 Cauldron Snout waterfall | |
 Location of the North Pennines AONB in the UK | |
| Location | County Durham,Northumberland,North Yorkshire &Cumbria counties,England |
| Max. elevation | Cross Fell 893 m (2,930 ft) |
| Designated | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty •UNESCO Global Geopark |
TheNorth Pennines are the northernmost section of thePennines, a range of hills which run north–south through northernEngland. They run along the border betweenCounty Durham andNorthumberland in the east andCumbria in the west, and are bounded to the north by theTyne Valley and to the south by theStainmore Gap. Much of the region ismoorland, and it contains significant industrial archaeology.
The North Pennines have been designated anational landscape and aUNESCO Global Geopark.
Several major rivers rise in the North Pennines, including theTees andWear. The part of the area in County Durham, includingTeesdale andWeardale, is known as theDurham Dales.[1]
The North Pennines are formed from a succession largely ofsedimentary rocks laid down during thePalaeozoicera, laterintruded by theWhin Sill and affected byglaciation during theQuaternary period.
Mud andvolcanic ash deposited during theOrdovician andSilurian periods were buried and subsequentlyfaulted andfolded during theCaledonian orogeny, the mudstone becomingslaty. These rocks which are between 500 and 420 million years old are now exposed along the great scarp which defines the western edge of the area and also in aninlier in upperTeesdale. Unseen at the surface but proved in boreholes is the Weardale Granite, abatholith emplaced as molten rock into the slates and other rocks around 400 million years ago. Its presence beneath the region results in it being an upland area sincegranite is relatively less dense and therefore ‘buoys up’ the North Pennines. This uplifted area is known as theAlston Block and is partly defined by major faults; the Stublick and Ninety-Fathom faults to the north and the Pennine Fault to the west. To the south is the Stainmore Trough.
Overlying the early Palaeozoic rocks and granite are a succession oflimestones,shales andmudstones dating from theCarboniferous period. At this time the part of the Earth’s crust which would later become England lay in theequatorial zone and was covered from time to time by shallow tropical seas. Repeated cycles of inundation led to the development of a series ofcyclothems; the laying down of layers of limestone, shale and sandstone with occasionalcoal seams.
Shortly afterwards, (c. 295 million years ago) molten rock once again intruded the sedimentary succession, this time resulting in the emplacement of thedoleritic Whin Sill within the Carboniferous sequence. Known aswhinstone locally, itbaked the rocks with which it came into contact, resulting in the Sugar Limestone found in upper Teesdale. Cooling of the sill itself resulted in the formation of columnar joints, characteristic of its outcrop at places likeHigh Cup. The sill has been dated at between 301 and 294 million years old thus straddling the Carboniferous/Permian boundary.[2]
Around the start of thePermian period, about 290 million years ago, mineral-rich waters, associated with the still warm granite, circulated within the Carboniferous succession and gave rise to mineral-rich veins which have formed the basis of alead mining industry since at least Roman times.
During the rest of this period and into theTriassic at the start of theMesozoic era, desert sands characterised the area; these are now seen as theNew Red Sandstone of theVale of Eden, the eastern parts of which form the lower slopes of the Pennine scarp and are within the AONB. There is no bedrock of younger age to be found within the North Pennines; for much of the time since the deposition of the Triassic sandstones, it is likely the area was above sea level and subject toerosion.
A series of major global climate cycles during the currentQuaternary period resulted in a series of ice ages, evidence for thelast ice age is found within the North Pennines both in term of erosional and depositional features. Glacialtill is widespread anddrumlin are encountered, both indicative of the presence of moving ice within the landscape. It may be that some higher ground was not over-ridden by ice but remained exposed through subject to harsh climatic conditions.Glacial meltwater carved channels and rivers have continued to shape the landscape in the post-glacial era.[3]
Besides farming, mining and quarrying have been a mainstay of the local economy over centuries. The area has in the past been mined and quarried for minerals such as barytes, coal fluorspar, iron, lead, witherite and zinc.[4]
In 2013, a Canadian mining company were allowed to test drill for zinc aroundAllenheads andNenthead. They said the region was sitting on a "world-class" deposit of zinc and predicted that a new mine in the area could produce 1,000,000 tonnes (980,000 long tons; 1,100,000 short tons) of zinc ore per year.[5]
In the North Pennines National Landscape area are: 40% of the UK's upland hay meadows; 30% of England's upland heathland and 27% of itsblanket bog; 80% of England'sblack grouse (and also breedingshort-eared owl,ring ouzel,common snipe andcommon redshank); 36% of the National Landscape area is designated asSites of Special Scientific Interest;red squirrels,otters and rare arctic alpine plants; 22,000 pairs of breedingwaders and one of England's biggest waterfalls –High Force.[6] The area shares a boundary with theYorkshire Dales National Park in the south and extends as far as the Tyne Valley, just south ofHadrian's Wall in the north.[7]
The North Pennines are notable for rare flora and fauna, including wild alpine plants not found elsewhere in Britain. It is also home to red squirrels and diverse birds of prey. The impressive landscape of the North Pennines – from High Force on the River Tees to the sweeping valley ofHigh Cup Gill aboveDufton – are the product of millions of years of geological processes. The worldwide significance of the geology found in the area was recognised in 2003 when the National Landscape became Britain's firstEuropean Geopark.[8] A year later the area become one of the founding members of theUNESCO-assistedGlobal Geopark family and in 2015 it was accorded official status as a UNESCO Global Geopark.[9] Geoparks are areas with outstanding geological heritage where this is being used to support sustainable development.[10]
Another of the North Pennines' oddities is that it is home to England's only named wind, theHelm Wind. It has caught out many walkers traversing the plateaux aroundCross Fell, theEden Valley fellside, and the valleys betweenAlston and Dufton.[11]
One of the many walking routes in the North Pennines isIsaac's Tea Trail, a circular route of 37 miles (60 km) around the area, running fromNinebanks viaAllendale,Nenthead andAlston.[12] ThePennine Way also crossed the area,[13] including one of the most celebrated stretches throughTeesdale, a lush valley with dramatic river scenery including the twin attractions of High Force andCauldron Snout.
The great English poetW. H. Auden spent much time in this area and some forty poems and two plays are set here. Auden visited the area in 1919 and "five years later was writing poems about Alston Moor and Allendale."[14] He referred to the region as his "Mutterland", his "great good place", and equated it with his idea of Eden. Scores of Pennine place-names are found in his work, includingCauldron Snout andRookhope.[15][16]
An area of 770 square miles (2,000 km2) in the North Pennines was designated as anarea of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in 1988; in 2023 AONBs were rebranded as national landscapes, however their legal designation remains unchanged.
The area was designated for itsmoorland scenery, the product of centuries of farming and lead-mining. It is the second largest of the 49 national landscapes in the United Kingdom after the Cotswolds.[17] In addition to the areas named above, the designated area includes 2.6 square kilometres (1.0 sq mi) ofNorth Yorkshire aroundTan Hill.[18] There is a small national landscape visitor centre atBowlees which aims to provide a gateway toupper Teesdale and the wider North Pennines.[19][20]
