Kirkstone Pass
mountain pass
Kirkstone Pass is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is at an altitude of 1,489 feet (454 m).
It is the District's highest pass traversed by road; the A592 between Ambleside in Rothay Valley and Patterdale in Ullswater Valley. The road gradient approaches 1 in 4. The picturesque view down into Patterdale has Brothers Water as its focal point.
The Kirkstone Pass Inn stands close to the summit. Once a vital coaching inn, it now caters primarily for tourists. It is the third-highest public house in England.
Slate quarrying
Lead and copper ore mining and slate mining has spanned centuries.
Petts Quarry worked by Kirkstone Green Slate Company is just to the Ambleside side of the summit.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Kirkstone Pass” is mountain pass. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Kirkstone, Pass and mountain, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “mountain pass” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1355802. Authority coordinates are 54.456, -2.924. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kirkstone Pass”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kirkstone Pass primary sources, Kirkstone Pass archive and Kirkstone research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kirkstone Pass”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kirkstone Pass” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.