SD2997 : Willy Scrow
taken 8 years ago, near to Coniston, Cumbria, England
The fells surrounding Coniston occur at the south eastern edge of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. In the Ordovician period these rocks were formed of volcanic lavas and pyroclastic flows which erupted 450 million years ago during a phase of cataclysmic volcanism. About 2 million years ago glaciers and ice sheets covered most of mainland Britain. These glacial episodes were interspersed with warmer interglacials and it was the action of glaciers and meltwater, frost conditions and slope action during this period which shaped most of the surface detail of the Lake District recognisable today.
This is an extremely simplified version of what happened. Follow this Link for a more detailed description of the geology of the Lake District.