Batterbee Mountains

The Batterbee Mountains are a group of prominent mountains rising to 7,220 feet above sea level and forming part of the dissected edge of Dyer Plateau overlooking George VI Sound, on the west coast of Palmer Land in the British Antarctic Territory.

These mountains stand between the Ryder Glacier and the Conchie Glacier. The range is split along its north–south axis by the Rowley Corridor, a pass which extends from the Ryder to the Conchie Glacier and separates the inland peaks such as Mount Ness and Mount Bagshawe from the coastal peaks along the western shoreline.

The highest mountain of the group is Mount Bagshawe, at 7,220 feet high

These mountains were first seen and photographed from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth on 23 November 1935. They were charted from the ground in October 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition under John Rymill, and named after Sir Harry Fagg Batterbee (1880–1976), Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Dominions Office, 1930–38, and Chairman of the Polar Committee in 1934, who gave help to the expedition. The Rowley Corridor is named for David N. Rowley, senior pilot with the British Antarctic Survey, 1969–74.

The mountains were surveyed by the British Antarctic Survey from 'Stonington Island' between 1962 and 1972.

Coastal peaks

• The Christie Peaks are northernmost feature of the Batterbee Mountains. They are a conspicuous group of sharp peaks located immediately south of the terminus of Ryder Glacier. The group was named for Timothy J.C. Christie, a British Antarctic Survey surveyor at Stonington Island, 1970–71.
• The Tindley Peaks stand to the south, along the coast, and rise to about 2,500 feet between the Christie Peaks and McArthur Glacier. These were named for Roger C. Tindley, BAS general assistant and mechanic at Fossil Bluff, 1973–75. Horse Bluff is at the west side of the Tindley Peaks. It was surveyed by the British Antarctic Survey from 1970, and so named from a distinctive feature on the bluff resembling a horse's head. South of the Tindley Peaks is McArthur Glacier.
• Swine Hill is the southernmost of two rugged, rocky knolls, 1,804 feet high, which stand 10 nautical miles west-northwest of the summit of Mount Bagshawe on the west coast of Palmer Land. The hill overlooks Gadarene Lake, a meltwater lake one nautical mile long in the ice shelf of George VI Sound. Its eastern shore borders the exposed rocks of the west coast of Palmer Land. In summer a considerable volume of water enters the lake from the ravine immediately north of Swine Hill. The hill and the lake were surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, who erected a cairn on the summit. The names 'Swine Hill' and 'Gadarene Lake' comes from an incident where the expedition's sled dogs attempted to throw themselves and their sledge down the steep ice slopes into the water, which reminded the explorers of the Biblical Gadarene swine.

Inland peaks

• Mount Unicorn is further inland to the east, but not far south of the Christie Peaks, named after the constellation of Monoceros (The Unicorn).
• Mount Ness is about six nautical miles to the south-east and stands 6,200 feet high: it was named for Mrs Patrick Ness, a donor to the British Graham Land Expedition.
• Mount Cadbury is the easternmost of the Batterbee Mountains, 5,900 feet high, standing east-southeast of Mount Ness and 18 nautical miles inland of George VI Sound. It was named for Mrs. Henry Tyler Cadbury, a fundraiser for the British Graham Land Expedition.
• Pyxis Ridge, a narrow ridge of nunataks separated by passes, is located 5 nautical miles north-north-west of Mount Cadbury, projecting into the south side of Ryder Glacier. It was named by UK-APC after the constellation of Pyxis.
• The Puppis Pikes sit outside the Batterbee Mountains, 7 nautical miles north-east of Mount Cadbury.
• Mount Bagshawe is the tallest of the Batterbee Mountains at 7,220 feet high. It stands 8 nautical miles inland from George VI Sound. It was first photographed with the rest of the range by Ellsworth, and was mapped from these photographs by W.L.G. Joerg. It was named by UK-APC in 1954 for Sir Arthur W.G. Bagshawe.
• Thomson Rock is a rock nunatak 3 nautical miles east of Mount Bagshawe, along the eastern edge of the range. It was named for Michael R.A. Thomson, British Antarctic Survey geologist.
• The Butler Peaks are a group of smaller peaks found between Armstrong Glacier and Conchie Glacier, 4 nautical miles south of Mount Bagshawe. They are named after Peter F. Butler, a British Antarctic Survey geophysicist at Stonington Island.

Location

• Location map: 71°25’57"S, 67°20’10"W