UK Walks: Mountain and Hill Types You Need To Know About

Across the British Isles, mountains and hills are categorised into lists based on height and prominence to each other as per the following criteria;

Height – A height above 2,000 ft, 600 m, is considered necessary to be a “mountain” in the British Isles.
Prominence – is the distance between neighbouring peaks. It’s generally assumed within the hiking community that prominence needs to be a minimum of 30m (98ft). That said the lowest prominence is 15 metres (49.21 ft) for Nuttalls and Vandeleur-Lynams.

Hill & Mountains Lists

Across the walking and climbing community, numerous lists contain a set of peaks that are usually confined to a geographical area. As an example, in Scotland, there is a list of Munro’s that describes mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 m), while in England the 3000’s is a list of four peaks over 3000 feet.

It’s also possible for one mountain or hill to be included in many different summit lists. As an example, Scafell Pike in the Lake District is the highest mountain in England, 257th-highest mountain in the British Isles on the Simms classification, the 138th-highest mountain on the Marilyn classification, and the 46th-highest mountain on the P600 classification. Scafell Pike has the 13th-greatest “relative height” (or prominence) in the British Isles and is also classed as a Marilyn, a HuMP, a Furth, a Hewitt, a Nuttall, a Wainright, a Birkett, and a County Top.

Terminology

Simms – This is probably my favourite mountain specification list given the broad range of mountains across the UK. A Simm (Six-hundred Metre Mountain), is defined as a mountain in the British Isles that is over 600 m (1,969 ft) high and has a prominence of at least 30 m (98 ft). Currently, there are 2,754 recorded Simms in the British Isles (2,188 Scottish Simms, 192 English Simms, 149 Welsh Simms, 1 Isle of Man Simm, and 224 Irish Simms)

Furth Mountains in the British Isles height are defined as mountains over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) in elevation outside of Scotland. They are also called Welsh Munros, Irish Munros, and English Munros respectively, or the three-thousanders. The current list of Furth Mountains includes a list of 34 Furths (six in England, 15 in Wales, and 13 in Ireland).

The P600s – are mountains in the British Isles prominence of at least 600 metres (1,969 feet). Currently, there are 120 P600s in the British Isles: 81 in Scotland, 25 in Ireland, 8 in Wales, 4 in England, 1 in Northern Ireland, and 1 in the Isle of Man

The Marilyns – are mountains in the British Isles with a prominence of at least 150 metres (490 feet). As at October 2018, there were 1,552 Marilyns across the British Isles, 1,219 in Scotland, 175 in England, and 158 in Wales (Black Mountain, on the England-Wales border, is counted as being in Wales). There are 454 Marilyns in Ireland (389 in the Republic of Ireland and 66 in Northern Ireland), and five on the Isle of Man, bringing the total for the British Isles to 2,011.

HuMPs – These are very similar to the Marilyns above, however rather than the prominence to the next mountain being 150 meters, it’s now 100 meters. Currently there are 2,986 HuMPs (Hundred and upwards Metre Prominence) (2,168 in Scotland, 833 in Ireland, 444 in England, 366 in Wales and 11 in the Channel Islands)

TuMPs – Takes this even further and reduces the proximity to 30 meters. As a consequence there are 17,044 TuMPs (Thirty and upwards Metre Prominence).

Hewitts – are Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over 2,000 (609.6 m), with a prominence of at least 30 meters. Currently there are 525 Hewitts, 209 in Ireland, 180 in England and 136 in Wales.

The Nuttalls – are mountains in England and Wales only (e.g. not Ireland) over 2,000 feet (610 m) with a relative height of at least 15 metres (49 ft). There were 444 Nuttalls in the original list (254 in England and 190 in Wales).

Scotland

Munros – are mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 m). Currently there are 282 Munros, and 227 further Munro Tops, totalling 509 summits, all of them in the Scottish Highlands.

Murdo’s – similar to Munros above, Murdo’s are mountains with a summit over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) and a prominence of at least 30 metres (98 ft). Currently there are 442 Murdos in Scotland.

Corbetts – The Corbetts are peaks in Scotland that are between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762.0 and 914.4 m) high with a prominence of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). Currently there are 222 Corbetts in Scotland

Grahams – The Grahams are mountains in Scotland between 2,000 and 2,499 feet (610 and 762 metres) high, with a drop of at least 150 metres (490 feet) all around. Currently there are 219 hills distributed as follows: Highlands south of the Great Glen 87, Highlands north of the Great Glen 84, Central and Southern Scotland 23, Skye 10, Mull 7, Harris 3, Jura 2, Arran 1, Rum 1, South Uist 1.

Donald’s – In principle, Donald’s are Mountain over 2,000 Ft with a prominence over 100Ft, however, the process uses a complicated formula that calculates mountains into Donald Hills and Donald Tops.

England

Wainwrights – are hills in the English Lake District National Park ONLY that have a summit of 1000FT. Currently, there are 117 summits in the Lake District.

The 3000’s – Currently there are four mountains in England over 3000 feet (Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3210 feet), Scafell at 964 metres (3162 feet), Helvellyn at 950 metres (3114 feet), Skiddaw at 931 metres(3053 feet))

Ireland

Irish Munros – which are also known as Furths, are mountains in Ireland over 3,000 Ft (914.4m). Currently, there are 13 Furths/ Irish Munros in Ireland.

The Vandeleur-Lynam – is the Irish version of a Nuttall and considers mountain over 600meters (1,969 ft), and prominence of 15 metres (49 ft). Currently, there are 273 Vandeleur-Lynams in Ireland.

The Arderins are mountains in Ireland above 500 m (1,640 ft), with a prominence over 30 m (98 ft). Ireland has 407 Arderins

Arderin Begs – are very similar to The Arderins above with the only difference being that they have a prominence of between 15–30 m. Currently, Ireland had 124 Arderin Begs