The Cockpit

Nearest town:
Penrith (9km NNE)
OS reference:
NY483222
OS sheet:
90
Latitude:
54° 35' 31.59 N
Longitude:
2° 48' 0.72 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by Jane

me, pebs, Vicster and Vicky sit a while at the Cockpit

Image credit: Moth Clark
Jane
Jane Jun 17, 2009
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by The Eternal

27/05/06 The Cockpit, from the SW, lost in the landscape, with Heughscar Hill behind. The monument from the landscape is lost, yet the landscape from the monument is huge.

Image credit: The Eternal
The Eternal
The Eternal May 29, 2006
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by The Eternal

27/05/06 From the boundary stone to the S, looking to The Cockpit stone circle. Heathens within, still debating water quality.

Image credit: The Eternal
The Eternal
The Eternal May 29, 2006
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by The Eternal

27/05/06 The Cockpit from the SW, Heathens within, debating on the dubious quality of the fresh water from the beck. As if tap water compares, dead sheep or no dead sheep.

Image credit: The Eternal
The Eternal
The Eternal May 29, 2006
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by The Eternal

27/05/06 E edge of The Cockpit, looking SW to Arthur’s Pike.

Image credit: The Eternal
The Eternal
The Eternal May 29, 2006
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by The Eternal

27/05/06 Inside The Cockpit, looking NNW. Some complete twat has seen fit to scratch their pathetic name on the dark stone left of centre. Perhaps it was the same moron who, in January, made a fire in the centre of Castlerigg , and who also let their dog(s) shit there. Arseholes of society. Glenys I think her name is.

Image credit: The Eternal
The Eternal
The Eternal May 28, 2006
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by IronMan

Hellvellyn and the mountains of the Lake District, with Ullswater just in view. Taken from near the Cockpit 31/12/02ce.

IronMan
IronMan Jan 6, 2003
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by Kammer

Taken May 1995: We were on a walk from Bowness to Penrith, mostly following the Roman route called High Street. We camped overnight by the circle, and it was beautiful. I remember that one of the stones had been damaged by some idiot lighting a fire against it.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Aug 12, 2002
Image of The Cockpit (Stone Circle) by IronMan

The view on the path near to the Cockpit. It definitely makes the visit all the more rewarding. This view of the Lakeland fells is fantastic.

IronMan
IronMan May 13, 2002

Articles

The Cockpit

postman
postman Jan 20, 2009

For ages I’d known of this circle but because of its location on the saddle between two bigger hills
i’d put it off, till now, I wish I had gone sooner it wasnt as far as I’d thought and the other stones on
the way keeps one occupied (like we need it up here).
The stones are sparce to say the least round the northern edge but much better the rest of the way
round, at times it seems like a double circle with the stones of the rings really close but are probably
just larger stones from the embanking. The western arc are covered with that lovely thick grass ive
come to know as “Goddam awful stuff” , from here we can see White Raise cairn back up the hill and
down by Ullswater Dunmallard hill settlement, of which I know nothing.
Buckets of thanks for Dave who not only accompanies me on these sometimes foolhardy trips, but also
carried the ladders all the way and stood underneath them holding me up just that little bit higher.

The Cockpit

The Eternal
The Eternal May 28, 2006

27/05/06 My latest visit, the first been in the formative years of a child at junior school, when a threatening sky lay low over the ridge that takes the High Street Roman road. A defining moment, with the atmosphere making an impression that turned me onto prehistory for life.
Today there were four people in the circle, two with a playful puppy, up there for the exercise, and two backpackers, resting, yet seemingly unaware of the significance of the fact that they lay on old, damp ground, which wasn’t any old, damp ground. It was old, yes, and damp, but not any old, damp ground. They lay back oblivious, more concerned with the water from the nearby beck, and its quality. Not once did they mention the circle. Heathens.
I wished they would go away, but no loitering with a camera would shift them , so I had to make do with avoiding them in the shots.
The circle is set in a green sward of close-cropped grass, all around being rough scrub. The views aren’t bad, but are better from Arthur’s Pike to the SW.

The Cockpit

Hob
Hob Apr 5, 2005

For some reason I was expecting this one to be smaller, even when it was first spotted fron the top of the hill. I dunno quite why, maybe the landscape around here plays havoc with sense of scale.

The stones ain’t big, but the circle is nicely wide, seems to fit in with the openess of Moor Divock in general. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area. It’s easier to approach from the east, from the direction of the Cop Stone, which also gives the opportunity to have a look at a couple of cairns and the stone row.

Access:
Just about do-able with a three-wheeler and determined assistance, not suitable for wheelchairs, paths are rough and strewn with cobbles and ruts. If on a bike, try to have suspension.

The Cockpit

Chris Collyer
Chris Collyer Apr 20, 2003

I really liked the Cockpit, it was the main reason why I visited Moor Divock and was definitely well worth it. As you walk over the moor from the southeast the small stones of this 30 metre wide circle can be seen from a fair distance on a slightly raised plateau of land. How many stones? I read somewhere that there are 75, I tried counting them but got distracted by the sun as it began to descend between a gap in the stones to the west – are the stones missing here or was this an entrance? There is another possible entrance to the northeast.
The Cockpit is supposed to consist of a pair of concentric rings, in most parts it appears as a single ring of stones although there is a nice double run on the northwestern side. In my notes I had written ‘very nice’ and on a warm, still, spring evening it certainly was.

The Cockpit

IronMan
IronMan May 13, 2002

A reasonably large late stone circle of low stones. Part of the circle is concealed by tall grass. The grassy area looks like it contains a burial cairn (?) Whilst sat here a lot of people have just walked straight past, one or two commenting that this was “one of them stone circle things”. The two small planes with “Utterly Butterly” ads sprayed beneath them did however manage to grab their attention. Never mind.

Topics

a day out 5
bobpc
bobpc
Dec 2009

Sites within 20km of The Cockpit

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