GRANITE is a crystalline igneous rock produced when large volumes of magma intruded into the crust slowly cool.

It varies in appearance and is identified by its crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica. Large volumes of magma were intruded into the crust beneath Cumbria during the Late Ordovician - Early Devonian and formed granite. Five granites are exposed: Eskdale and Ennerdale in the west, Skiddaw and Threlkeld near Keswick and Shap in the east.

Individual outcrops are small but are linked together at depth. Part of one large intrusion called a batholith. Only the Eskdale and Ennerdale granites impact the Lakeland landscape. Shap granite is the most distinctive with its large feldspar crystals.