Winter Hill by munki-boy

Winter Hill

Winter Hill is the highest point in the West Pennine area and towers over Rivington and its surroundings, although it is not tall enough to be classed as a mountain. Winter Hill is really a large, raised plateau of moorland with several summits named as hills in their own right, one being Rivington Pike. There are several other notable hills including Counting Hill, Noon Hill, Crooked Edge Hill, Adam Hill, Brown Hill and more. The summit of Winter Hill itself is rather understated and tucked away at the very end of the mast road behind the smaller radio masts and is marked by an OS trig point.

The name Winter Hill is probably derived from Old Norse, the first recorded name for the hill being Wintyrheld which would mean literally Winter Hill. However, “winter” and its variations certainly had the meaning “wet” in the old times and therefore means “the wet hill”, rather than our modern associations of cold or snow. Colloquialisms like “winter pasture” meaning poor agricultural land, probably at one time meant wet land that could not be farmed but could be used for pasture if necessary.

Between those times and now, it seems Winter Hill was shown as Egberden Hill on antique maps,, which would be derived from the Egbert’s Dean, which is the area now known as the Smithills Estate. The valley (dean from OE denu) reaches quite far up the hill and was once a prosperous area so passing cartographers seem to heard the place referred to as Egbert’s Dean Hill. Egbert’s Dean has a defined boundary in the SE quarter of the hill and should really refer to that area only.

Created: 4  September  2016  Edited: 29  November  2023

Misty Sunset on Winter Hill

Over the Two Lads on Crooked Edge Hill

Mist, Mines and Ruins

Winter Hill Details

Winter Hill is a 456 metre high hill in Greater Manchester.

Winter Hill

Winter Hill LiDAR Map

A LiDAR Map showing the area around Winter Hill

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

Winter Hill map

Winter Hill UK Map