Rannerdale Knotts - Geology and Mining

Geology and Mining

The summit area shows outcropping of the Kirkstile Formation. These Ordovician rocks, typical of the Skiddaw massif, are composed of laminated mudstone and siltstone. Low Bank lies across the Causey Pike Fault and is part of the Buttermere Formation, an olistostrome of disrupted sheared and folded mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. There are also two minor intrusions of basalt running across the ridgeline.

There is a trial level in the northern crags, above Hause Point on the Crummock Water road. The opening is about 5 ft square but the level extends only a little way into the fell-side. The object appears to have been lead-bearing galena of which some traces remain.