Munros, Marilyns and Wainwrights: how the lists differ
A Munro is a Scottish mountain of 3,000 ft (914.4 m) or more on the official Scottish Mountaineering Club list. A Marilyn is a hill of any height that rises at least 150 m above the ground linking it to anything higher. A Wainwright is one of the 214 Lake District fells in Alfred Wainwright's seven Pictorial Guides. The first list is about height, the second about drop, the third about a set of books, and that is why they overlap so unevenly: 202 of the 282 Munros are Marilyns, but only 39 of the 214 Wainwrights.
All figures below come from the Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH) v18.6, which records 21,539 hills in Britain and Ireland with their membership of each list.
Three lists, three questions
Munros answer “how high?”. There are 282, all in Scotland, from Ben Nevis at 1,344.5 m down to Beinn Teallach at 914.6 m. Half of them are above 999 m. Height alone does not make a Munro, though: the list is a judgement about which 3,000 ft tops count as separate mountains, and it has no fixed drop rule.
Marilyns answer “how much does it stand out?”. The only test is a drop of 150 m on all sides, so the list runs from Crogearraidh na Thobha at 154 m to Ben Nevis. The database counts 2,007: 1,218 in Scotland, 452 in Ireland, 173 in England, 159 in Wales and five on the Isle of Man. Because height does not matter, a low coastal hill and a Cairngorm plateau can both qualify, while a 1,000 m top on a high ridge may not.
Wainwrights answer neither question. They are the fells that one author chose to describe, from Castle Crag at 290 m to Scafell Pike at 978.1 m. Of the 214, 127 reach 2,000 ft (609.6 m) and only four reach 3,000 ft: Scafell Pike, Scafell, Helvellyn and Skiddaw. Their median drop is 60.3 m, the second lowest of the ten lists.
All ten lists on one scale
Each bar runs from the lowest to the highest hill on the list, with a notch at the median. The Munros sit in a narrow band at the top; the Marilyns and county tops spread across almost the whole range.
- Munros282 hills915–1,344 m
- Marilyns2,007 hills154–1,344 m
- County tops111 hills81–1,344 m
- Hewitts522 hills610–1,085 m
- Nuttalls441 hills610–1,085 m
- Furths34 hills918–1,085 m
- Wainwrights214 hills290–978 m
- Corbetts222 hills762–914 m
- Donalds88 hills610–843 m
- Grahams231 hills601–762 m
| List | Hills | Height range | Median height | Median drop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munros | 282 | 915–1,344 m | 999 m | 245.7 m | 282 hills · median height 999 m · median drop 245.7 m |
| Corbetts | 222 | 762–914 m | 835 m | 300 m | 222 hills · median height 835 m · median drop 300 m |
| Grahams | 231 | 601–762 m | 690.3 m | 256 m | 231 hills · median height 690.3 m · median drop 256 m |
| Donalds | 88 | 610–843 m | 684.6 m | 116.5 m | 88 hills · median height 684.6 m · median drop 116.5 m |
| Wainwrights | 214 | 290–978 m | 657.5 m | 60.3 m | 214 hills · median height 657.5 m · median drop 60.3 m |
| Hewitts | 522 | 610–1,085 m | 699.5 m | 108 m | 522 hills · median height 699.5 m · median drop 108 m |
| Nuttalls | 441 | 610–1,085 m | 700 m | 57.7 m | 441 hills · median height 700 m · median drop 57.7 m |
| Furths | 34 | 918–1,085 m | 959.9 m | 95.3 m | 34 hills · median height 959.9 m · median drop 95.3 m |
| Marilyns | 2,007 | 154–1,344 m | 549 m | 226.5 m | 2,007 hills · median height 549 m · median drop 226.5 m |
| County tops | 111 | 81–1,344 m | 622 m | 335.6 m | 111 hills · median height 622 m · median drop 335.6 m |
Every hill on each list in the database. Height range rounded to the metre. Median drop is the middle value of each list's drops.
How much the lists overlap
The quickest way to see what a list measures is to ask how many of its hills are also Marilyns. The table counts the hills profiled on this site; for Donalds, Hewitts, Nuttalls, Furths and county tops, which are only partly covered here, that means the members that are also Munros, Wainwrights or Marilyns of 600 m or more.
| List (hills profiled here) | Profiled | Also Marilyns | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munros | 282 | 202 | 72% | 202 of 282 are Marilyns (72%) |
| Corbetts | 222 | 222 | 100% | 222 of 222 are Marilyns (100%) |
| Grahams | 231 | 231 | 100% | 231 of 231 are Marilyns (100%) |
| Donalds | 31 | 31 | 100% | 31 of 31 are Marilyns (100%) |
| Wainwrights | 214 | 39 | 18% | 39 of 214 are Marilyns (18%) |
| Hewitts | 275 | 204 | 74% | 204 of 275 are Marilyns (74%) |
| Nuttalls | 193 | 105 | 54% | 105 of 193 are Marilyns (54%) |
| Furths | 15 | 14 | 93% | 14 of 15 are Marilyns (93%) |
| County tops | 51 | 51 | 100% | 51 of 51 are Marilyns (100%) |
Hills profiled in this register. Share = also Marilyns ÷ profiled.
Every Corbett and every Graham is a Marilyn, because both lists carry their own drop rule: 500 ft (152.4 m) for Corbetts and 150 m for Grahams. The Munros have no such rule, and 80 of them fall short of 150 m. The extreme case is Maoile Lunndaidh: its drop is just 10.5 m, and Creag Toll a' Choin, 0.7 km south-west, is higher at 1,005.3 m without being a Munro itself.
The Wainwrights overlap least: 58 of them rise less than 30 m above their key col, and High Pike (Scandale) and Bonscale Pike have a drop of only 1 m. On the ground these are shoulders and spurs of bigger fells; Wainwright still gave each one a chapter of its own.
The other seven lists
- Corbetts: Scottish hills from 2,500 to 3,000 ft with at least 500 ft (152.4 m) of drop on all sides. The database lists 222, highest Beinn a' Chlaidheimh (914 m).
- Grahams: Scottish hills from 2,000 to 2,500 ft with at least 150 m of drop. The database lists 231, highest Beinn Talaidh (761.6 m).
- Donalds: hills of 2,000 ft or more in the Scottish Lowlands, as listed by Percy Donald. The database lists 88, highest Merrick (843 m).
- Hewitts: hills in England, Wales and Ireland of 2,000 ft or more with at least 30 m of drop. The database lists 522, highest Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m).
- Nuttalls: hills in England and Wales of 2,000 ft or more with at least 15 m of drop. The database lists 441, highest Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m).
- Furths: summits of 3,000 ft or more in England, Wales and Ireland – the Munros outside Scotland. The database lists 34, highest Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m).
- County tops: the highest point of each historic county. The database lists 111, highest Ben Nevis (1,344.5 m).
The three Scottish height bands fit together: Munros from 3,000 ft, Corbetts from 2,500 to 3,000 ft, Grahams from 2,000 to 2,500 ft. South of the border the Hewitts and Nuttalls cover the same 2,000 ft threshold with much smaller drop rules (30 m and 15 m), which is why those lists are long: 522 Hewitts and 441 Nuttalls against 231 Grahams.
Hills on many lists
Of the 1,140 hills here, 177 are on one list only, 726 on two, 185 on three and 47 on four. Only five appear on five or more. The two on six lists are Scafell Pike and Helvellyn, which are Wainwrights, Hewitts, Nuttalls, Furths, Marilyns and county tops all at once.
In the finder: show the 39 Wainwrights that are also Marilyns
None of these lists is more “correct” than another. If you care about the view and the sense of standing on top of something, drop is the better guide; if you care about altitude, height is. The Ben Nevis page and every other hill page show both, with the hill's rank on each list it belongs to. For more on drop, read What prominence (drop) means, with real figures.
Sources
- Contains data from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.6 (www.hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Distances, ranks and comparisons are our own calculations. hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih, licence.
- How drop, isolation and ranks are worked out: Data & methodology.