The Wainwright sketch of Helvellyn sold for more than £10,000. Image: 1818 Auctioneers

A pen-and-ink sketch by the late author and artist Alfred Wainwright sold for what is believed to be a record price.

The drawing of Striding Edge was bought in an auction for £10,200 at the weekend.

Auctioneers said they had expected the 7×5-inch framed and signed sketch to sell for between £400 and £600 but the Lancaster-based buyer paid almost 20 times the amount.

Two other similarly sized sketches, of Doddick Fell on Blencathra and Cùl Mòr in the north-west Highlands, were sold by the 1818 Auctioneers for £740 and £820 respectively.

Wainwright’s sketch of Striding Edge on Helvellyn appeared in the first of his series of Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, the Eastern Fells.

Bill Nelson, saleroom manager for 1818 Auctioneers said: “We think £10,200 is a record price for a pen-and-ink sketch by Wainwright, and it’s certainly one for us.

“Put up for auction by a local vendor, who wishes to remain anonymous, lot 729 attracted interest as soon as the sale opened on Thursday 11 June.

“A total of 72 bids were made on the sketch of Striding Edge with a Lancaster bidder beating off interest around the UK to claim it.”

The auction closed on Sunday.

Mr Nelson said Alfred Wainwright’s sketched pictorial walking guides to his beloved Lakeland fells captured the essence of the mountains so well and this still resonates with people today.

“Wainwright wrote that mountain tops were places to refresh the soul, find new perspectives and banish worries and that’s particularly meaningful right now. His depiction of the Lake District’s most talked-about ridge, Striding Edge, would tick all those boxes,” he said.