A colossal painting is set to be auctioned in the Lake District.

The work, entitled 'Scafell Crag' was created by Julian Cooper, and is set to be sold at auction in Cockermouth.

The 13ft by 10ft artwork was commissioned to celebrate mountaineering and the Lake District's role in the development of rock climbing.

'Scafell Crag' is 13ft by 10ft (Image: Supplied) It was displayed in the entrance atrium of the Rheged Discovery Centre near Penrith when it opened in 2001, before being relocated to Grasmere 20 years later.

Since then, it has been displayed, occupying an entire wall in Mathilde’s café next to the Heaton Cooper Studio and Gallery, managed by Julian’s family.

The studio and café are run by Mr Cooper's niece, Becky Heaton Cooper, who is also an artist.

Mr Cooper and the painting in Mathilde's cafe (Image: Supplied) It has now been moved to Mitchell's salesroom in Cockermouth to be auctioned on Wednesday, November 27, with an opening price of £6,000, although it is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.

The painting is being sold by the Mountain Heritage Trust, who had originally commissioned the artwork.

Mr Cooper had created a smaller painting of climbers on Central Buttress, Scafell, which he showed to the Mountain Heritage Trust to illustrate his concept.

Initially, the intention was to display a horizontal painting along a wall in the centre's restaurant.

Mr Cooper working on the painting in Mathilde's Cafe, Grasmere (Image: Supplied) He required custom-built indoor scaffolding in his studio to start the work.

However, the site for the painting was moved to a new space that was taller than it was wide, so the painting had to be re-scaled.

Mr Cooper said: "Pikes Crag had to be moved in front of Scafell, deleting the landscape in between."

The opening date of Rheged was moved up to accommodate then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's availability for the official launch.

As a result, the painting had to be hung unfinished.

After the ceremony, the painting was moved to a barn where Mr Cooper added climbers on the crag, friends and family whom he persuaded to 'model' for him.

Once completed, the work was taken back to Rheged six months later.

A spokesman for the Mountain Heritage Trust said: "The Mountain Heritage Trust is excited by the forthcoming sale of Julian Cooper's wonderful Scafell Crag, which many may remember from hanging at Rheged during the time of the National Mountaineering Exhibition.

"With the painting finding a new owner, the MHT will be able to further their important aims of preserving, conserving and catalogueing their outstanding collections of archives and objects related to British mountaineering and climbing that are held at its HQ in Threlkeld."

Mr Cooper said: "I know it’s a very big painting, but it would be a tragedy if it disappeared from view because no one has a wall big enough."