Wild Boar Fell

Wild Boar Fell is a mountain (or more accurately a fell) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in the civil parish of Mallerstang on the eastern edge of Cumbria, England. At 2323ft, it is either the 4th-highest fell in the Yorkshire Dales or the 5th, depending on whether nearby High Seat (2,326 ft) is counted or not.The nearest high point is Swarth Fell which is a ridge about a mile (1½ km) long to the south, at. To the east, on the opposite side of the narrow dale, are High Seat and Hugh Seat.HistoryAccording to Wainwright the fell gets its name from the wild boar which inhabited the area over 500 years ago. But it would be unusual in an area of Viking settlement, for its old Norse name to have disappeared, when the names of many of its features, such as the Nab, Dolphinsty, etc., retain their Norse origin. Wild Boar fell was named in a late-17th century boundary description as both Wilbright and Wilbert fell and it must be doubtful that Wild Boar is the original name. We should instead look to the Old Norse tongue for an original name.In earlier times, probably up to the mid 19th century, the Millstone Grit, or gritstone, which forms the flat top of the fell, was used for making millstones. Some partly formed millstones can be seen on the eastern flank of the fell — and also on the corresponding western flank of Mallerstang Edge on the opposite side of the dale. Sand (composed of Millstone Grit) from the beach of Sand Tarn was used by local people to sharpen knives and scythes; they made ‘strickles’ by sticking the sand to wooden blocks with tar.