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Roseberry Topping

Recommended by

Our view

"Visible for miles around and one of the most distinctive of all English hills, Roseberry Topping"

Walk directions

Take the rough lane beside the car park towards Roseberry Topping. The path goes through a gateway then rises to a second gate at the beginning of the woodland.

Go through the gate into National Trust Land and continue ahead, up the large steps. There is a well-worn, mostly paved, path to the summit. It is a stiff climb to the trig point on the top of the hill.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Hillside climbs, woodland, then tracks and field paths, 4 stiles

Landscape - One of the best 360-degree views in Yorkshire

Dog friendliness - Mostly on lead – farmland and ground-nesting birds

Parking - Car park on A173 just south of Newton under Roseberry

Toilets en route - In car park at foot of Roseberry Topping

Walks in North Yorkshire

About the walk

Visible for miles around and one of the most distinctive of all English hills, Roseberry Topping, 1,051ft (320m) high, was once an integral part of the North York Moors plateau. Over the millennia the forces of nature eroded the land around it, but the Topping itself was protected by a cap of... harder sandstone. In time it became an isolated conical hill, stranded above the plain of the River Tees. Through the centuries it has been called many things, from Odinburgh (after the Norse god) to Rosemary Torp (by the notoriously inaccurate Daniel Defoe). Roseberry means ‘fortress in the heath’ and Topping, a ‘point’ – though there is no sign of a fortress there now. Roseberry Topping retained its conical perfection until the night of 8 August 1912, when a huge chunk of land fell from its southwest slope and gave it the now-characteristic jagged profile. The immediate cause of the fall was the ironstone mining operations that had been burrowing into the slopes of the hill since 1880, when the Roseberry Ironstone Company opened its first seam. Like much of this part of the North York Moors, Roseberry Topping is rich in ironstone, and it seemed a prize worth winning. The company survived for only three years, but the seam was later re-opened first by the Tees Furnace Company and then by its successor, Burton and Sons. Burton’s were blamed for the 1912 collapse, and for another landslide 10 years later, but the topping is geologically unstable and could have slipped at any time. After the descent from Roseberry Topping and the climb again to the woodland, the track descends over Great Ayton Moor. Ahead, the Captain Cook Monument, a stone obelisk 51ft (15.5m) high, dominates the view. The great explorer was born in 1728 within sight of Roseberry Topping at Marton (then a village, but now a suburb of Middlesbrough) and went to school at nearby Great Ayton. The monument was erected in 1827, with an inscription that names James Cook as ‘amongst the most celebrated and most admired benefactors of the human race.’ There was national sorrow when Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1791. Cook’s birthplace in Marton has long been demolished, and the family’s Great Ayton home (built in 1755) was moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1934. From 1736 his father worked at Aireyholme Farm (not open to the public), near Point 6 on the walk.

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About the area

North Yorkshire, with its two National Parks and two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is England’s largest county and one of the most rural. This is prime walking country, from the heather-clad heights of the North York Moors to the limestone country that is so typical of the Yorkshire Dales – a place of contrasts and discoveries, of history and legend.

Nearby places to stay

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Route details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

7 miles (11.3kms)

Ascent:

1640ft (500m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

Find more walks in North Yorkshire

Roseberry Topping

Recommended by

Our view

"Visible for miles around and one of the most distinctive of all English hills, Roseberry Topping"

Walk details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

7 miles (11.3kms)

Ascent:

1640ft (500m)

Walk directions

Take the rough lane beside the car park towards Roseberry Topping. The path goes through a gateway then rises to a second gate at the beginning of the woodland.

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From the summit walk east from the trig point, past two iron poles set into rock, and straight on along the paved way. Go steeply downhill. At the bottom, bear right to go up a track that goes uphill and bends right around the corner of woodland to a gate.

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Go through the gate and take the path alongside the wood, following yellow waymarkers. Continue on the path until it eventually follows a wall and descends the hill-side to reach a road.

4 of 7

Turn right, then left through a gate and up the track to reach the Cook Monument. With your back to the inscription, walk half right on a path between two upright stones. Go left at the fork, down a sometimes steep path, through woodland. Cross a green track and continue to a T-junction. Turn right and follow the path, then a metalled lane, to a crossroads.

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Go straight across down Aireyholme Lane. Follow the lane as it winds past houses, then take a signed footpath left over a stile. Follow the fence to two gates into woodland. After 0.25 miles (400m), go right at a National Trust sign, up a path ascending through the woods to a gate. After it, turn left to a stile. Cross and go right along the edge of the woodland and through a gate. Bend left to a stile by a gate left of the house.

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Walk across two fields to a stile, then continue uphill to the tower. Beyond it, take a grassy path left down a gully to a gate into woodland. Follow the path downhill through the woods to return to the gate at the top of the lane leading back to the car park.

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Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Hillside climbs, woodland, then tracks and field paths, 4 stiles

Landscape - One of the best 360-degree views in Yorkshire

Dog friendliness - Mostly on lead – farmland and ground-nesting birds

Parking - Car park on A173 just south of Newton under Roseberry

Toilets en route - In car park at foot of Roseberry Topping

Walks in North Yorkshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

North Yorkshire

Nearby places to stay

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Roseberry Topping

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Roseberry Topping

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