Planning

Where people finish the Wainwrights: what the two completion registers show

On the Wainwright Society's register the most common last Wainwright is Great End, followed by Haystacks and Castle Crag. On the LDWA's it is Castle Crag. What both lists show, and how to choose your own last fell.

Fells
14
in this guide
Reading
7 min
Updated
23 Sept
Great End in the Southern Fells of the Lake District
Great End

Photo: Ann Bowker

The most common last Wainwright depends on which register you read. On the Wainwright Society's list of 214 Completers, the larger of the two, Great End leads with 101 finishes, then Haystacks with 88 and Castle Crag with 66. On the LDWA Hillwalkers' Register, Castle Crag comes first with 45 of 955, and Great End is fourth. The two lists still agree on the pattern. People pick a small fell their friends can climb too, go to Haystacks as a tribute, or end up on a Scafell or Wasdale fell they walked past for years.

The two registers

The Wainwright Society's list of 214 Completers takes members only, but anyone can read it. It records each completer's final fell, first fell and dates. We counted its final-fell column on 22 September 2026. It had 1,645 entries, from Wainwright himself in 1965 to a finish on 20 September 2026. A few entries spell a fell differently, such as "Sca Fell" or "Castle Grag", and we have counted those with the usual spelling.

The LDWA Hillwalkers' Register is open to anyone. It records each completer's last summit, sex, number of rounds and first finish date. We parsed all 955 rows of its Wainwrights table (updated 27 November 2025).

Some people are on both lists, and nobody knows how many, so the totals can't be added together. Both include only people who chose to send in their finish. Read them as two large samples, not a census.

The most common last fells

On the Wainwright Society register (1,645 entries):

  • Great End: 101 (910 m)
  • Haystacks: 88 (597 m)
  • Castle Crag: 66 (290 m)
  • Scafell: 65 (964 m)
  • Yewbarrow: 53 (627 m)
  • Kirk Fell: 47 (802 m)
  • Lingmell: 40 (807 m)
  • Starling Dodd: 39 (633 m)
  • Catstycam, Pillar and Slight Side: 37 each (890 m, 892 m and 762 m)

On the LDWA register (955 entries):

  • Castle Crag: 45 (290 m)
  • Slight Side: 31
  • Yewbarrow: 30
  • Great End: 25
  • Lingmell: 24
  • Haystacks: 23
  • Binsey: 19 (447 m)
  • Scafell: 19
  • Lank Rigg: 18 (541 m)
  • Gowbarrow Fell: 18 (481 m)

If people chose at random, each of the 214 fells would get about 7.7 finishes on the Society list and 4.5 on the LDWA's. Great End has thirteen times its share on the first, and Castle Crag ten times its share on the second. The LDWA's top ten account for 252 finishes between them, about a quarter of that register.

The most common last Wainwrights on either register

The fells on both lists fall into three groups.

Party fells: finishing with company

Castle Crag, Binsey and Gowbarrow Fell are all low, with a short, well-used path to the top, and none needs a long day or a scramble. That is why people pick them. A partner who has walked every fell with you will be there anyway, but a fell like this lets the rest of the family come, and friends who don't normally walk the fells. The registers differ on how popular they are. Binsey has 19 finishes on each, but Gowbarrow Fell has 18 on the LDWA register and only four on the Society's.

Written accounts of completions tend to mention the same things: champagne or cake on the summit, a photo taken by someone else, and the pub afterwards. The Wainwright Society's magazine Footsteps (issue 58, summer 2017) printed one completion story that has all of them. Two walkers finished on Loughrigg Fell, where their round had begun in 1955 while they were camping at Elterwater, and ended the day by the fire in the Britannia Inn.

Low fells also help with the date. Once people have booked trains and time off it can't easily move, and a 290 m summit is still worth climbing in weather that would make a 900 m top pointless or unsafe.

  • It is the lowest Wainwright, 290 m (951 ft), and the only one under 300 m. Walkers can climb it easily from Grange or Rosthwaite in Borrowdale, according to Wikipedia's article on Castle Crag.
  • It feels like a proper summit. The top is rocky, with quarry workings on its flanks, and it stands up in the Jaws of Borrowdale between the valley's higher fells.
  • The summit carries a memorial. In 1920 Sir William Hamer and his family gave the top of the crag to the National Trust in memory of their son, 2nd Lieutenant John Hamer, killed in March 1918. The tablet also names ten Borrowdale men who died in the First World War (War Memorials Online).
  • It is in Borrowdale, where there is somewhere to eat and drink afterwards within a short walk.
  • It sits on no ridge. You won't cross it by accident on a big day, so it is easy to save.

A last fell on a ridge has to be steered around on every walk nearby. Castle Crag stands on its own.

Why the leftovers end up last

Most of the top places on both registers go to fells that nobody would call a party fell. On the Society list, Great End, Scafell, Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, Lingmell, Pillar and Slight Side account for 380 finishes, about 23% of the register. On the LDWA list, Slight Side, Yewbarrow, Great End, Lingmell and Scafell take five of the top ten places and 129 finishes. Great End is 910 m and Scafell 964 m. All of them belong to the Scafell massif or stand over Wasdale.

Most of those people probably didn't choose them. These fells sit next to the most popular routes in the Lakes. Great End and Lingmell overlook the paths to Scafell Pike. Slight Side is the far southern end of the Scafell ridge. Yewbarrow is short but steep at both ends, and awkward to add to a longer day. Kirk Fell sits in the shadow of Great Gable at the head of Wasdale. Walkers pass them on the way to the famous tops and plan to come back another day. Years later, one of them is the last fell left.

Catstycam, just off the Swirral Edge path to Helvellyn, looks like the same story on the other side of the Lakes. Lank Rigg fits here too. It is a western outlier above Ennerdale, a long way from where most people stay.

If your last few look like this, so did plenty of other people's. Our guide to the hardest Wainwrights to bag gives a one-day plan for each of them.

The pilgrimage

Haystacks is its own case, with 88 finishers on the Society register and 23 on the LDWA's. Wainwright asked for his ashes to be scattered by Innominate Tarn on Haystacks, and after his death in January 1991 they were (Wikipedia's article on Innominate Tarn). People who finish there do it on purpose, as a tribute. It is not a gentle fell. The walk from Gatesgarth at the head of Buttermere climbs steeply, and the path needs your hands in places.

Starling Dodd has a link of its own. The first entry on the Society's list is Wainwright, who finished there on 10 September 1965. That may explain some of its 39 finishers.

Finishing together

A large share of registered completions are shared. On the Wainwright Society list, 696 of the 1,620 entries with a full date (43%) share their last fell and date with at least one other person. Most are pairs (311 of them), with 14 groups of three, 4 of four, 2 of five and one of six. On the LDWA register, 296 of the 911 entries with a full last-summit-and-date (32%) share both. Most are pairs (121 of them), but there are also 7 groups of three, 2 of four, one of 7 and one of 18. Couples only show up as a pair when both register, so the real share is higher. For many, the round belongs to two people, and so does the choice of last fell. More on that in doing the Wainwrights together.

How to choose your own last fell

  1. Decide early. Pick your last fell while you still have fifty or more to go. After that, you have to plan around it rather than hope you don't cross it.
  2. Keep it off your ridge days. If your chosen fell sits on a horseshoe, like Haystacks at the end of the High Stile ridge or Lingmell beside the Scafell Pike path, route your other walks around it.
  3. Choose for the people you want there. If non-walkers are coming, pick a short, low fell with parking nearby: Castle Crag, Binsey, Gowbarrow Fell or Latrigg. Stephen Moore finished his 60th round on Latrigg in 2023, with his wife and brother on the summit (Keswick Reminder).
  4. Think about where you started. Finishing where your round began is a common way to close it off, as those Loughrigg walkers did.
  5. Plan for the weather. A low last fell can go ahead in weather that would close a high one. If you have chosen a big fell, set a backup date.
  6. Clear the awkward ones first. If you want a party fell to be your last, go after Slight Side, Great End and the Wasdale fells while you still have the energy. Otherwise they may choose for you.
  7. Note the first fell too. The Wainwright Society register asks for the name and date of your first and last fells. See how to register your completion.

For the higher fells on this page, carry a map and compass and check the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) forecast before you go.

For more figures from both registers, see the Wainwrights in numbers.

Choosing a last fell

What is the most common last Wainwright?

It depends on the register. On the Wainwright Society's list of 214 Completers, Great End comes first with 101 finishes, then Haystacks with 88 and Castle Crag with 66. On the LDWA Hillwalkers' Register, Castle Crag leads with 45 of 955, ahead of Slight Side with 31.

Why do so many people finish on Castle Crag?

It is the lowest Wainwright at 290 m and a short walk from Grange or Rosthwaite, so friends and family who don't walk the fells can be on the summit too.

Why is Great End such a common last fell?

It stands beside the Borrowdale path to Scafell Pike, so walkers pass below it for years on the way to the higher summit. Often it is simply the last one left.

Should I plan my last Wainwright in advance?

Yes, if you care where you finish. Pick it early and keep it out of your plans, especially if it sits on a ridge you might otherwise walk over.

Do people finish the Wainwrights together?

Often. On the Wainwright Society's register, 43% of entries with a full date share their last fell and date with someone else. On the LDWA register the figure is 32%.