Starling Dodd - Geology and Mining

Geology and Mining

The summit of Starling Dodd is formed by rocks of the Buttermere Formation, an olistostrome of disrupted, sheared and folded mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. Surrounding it on almost all sides are the granophyric granites of the Ennerdale Intrusion.

The steep northern slopes were the site of iron mines, operated in the late nineteenth century. One of the levels can still be found near the foot of Scale Force. All work had ceased by 1877.