Kendal
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| Town | |
  Kendal Location in the former South Lakeland district Show map of the former South Lakeland district | |
| Population | 29,593 (2021 census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SD5192 |
| • London | 223 miles (358.9 km)SSE |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | KENDAL |
| Postcode district | LA9 |
| Dialling code | 01539 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| 54°19′34″N2°44′42″W / 54.326°N 2.745°W /54.326; -2.745 | |
Kendal, onceKirkby in Kendal orKirkby Kendal, is amarket town andcivil parish in theWestmorland and Furness area ofCumbria, England, just outside theLake District. It lies within theRiver Kent's dale, from which its name is derived.
In theDomesday Book of 1086, the area was collected underYorkshire. The area came under theHonour of Lancaster before the barony split. The town became theBarony of Kendal's seat, in 1226/7 this barony merged with theBarony of Westmorland to form the historic county ofWestmorland withAppleby as the historiccounty town.[3] In 1889, Kendal became the county town. Under the 1974 reforms, it became the administrative centre of theSouth Lakeland district. The town became Westmorland and Furness district's administrative centre in a 2023 reform.
It is 8 miles (13 km) south-east ofWindermere and 19 miles (31 km) north ofLancaster. At the2011 census, the town had a population of 28,586,[4] making it the second largest town in Westmorland and Furness afterBarrow-in-Furness. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 29,593. It is renowned today mainly as a centre for shopping,[5] for its festivals[6] and historic sights, includingKendal Castle, and as the home ofKendal Mint Cake. The town's greylimestone buildings have earned it the sobriquet "Auld Grey Town".[7]
Kendal takes its name from the River Kent (the toponymy of whose name is uncertain but thought to beCeltic) and theOld Norse worddalr ("valley"). Kendal is listed in theDomesday Book as part ofYorkshire with the name Cherchebi (from Old Norsekirkju-bý, "church-village"). For many centuries it was called Kirkby Kendal: "village with a church in the valley of the River Kent".[8][9]
A charteredmarket town, the centre of Kendal has formed round a high street with alleyways, known locally as yards, off to either side. The main industry in those times was the manufacture ofwoollen goods, whose importance is reflected in the town'scoat of arms and in its Latin mottoPannus mihi panis (Cloth is my bread.) "Kendal Green" was a hard-wearing, wool-based fabric specific to the local manufacturing process. It was supposedly sported by the Kendalian archers instrumental in the English victory over the French at theBattle of Agincourt. Kendal Green was also worn by slaves in the Americas and appears in songs and literature from that time. Shakespeare notes it as the colour of clothing worn by foresters (Henry IV, Part 1).
Kendal Castle has a long history as a stronghold, built on the site of several successive castles. The earliest was a Normanmotte and bailey (located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland.[citation needed] The most recent is from the late 12th century, as the castle of theBarony of Kendal, the part of Westmorland ruled from here. The castle is best known as the home of the Parr family, as heirs of these barons. They inherited it through marriage in the reign ofEdward III of England. Rumours still circulate that KingHenry VIII's sixth wifeCatherine Parr was born at Kendal Castle, but the evidence available leaves this unlikely: by her time the castle was beyond repair and her father was already based in Blackfriars, London, at the court of KingHenry VIII.[10]
ARoman fort stood about 2 miles south of today's town centre, at a site later known as Watercrook.[11] It was built about AD 90, originally in timber, rebuilt with stone about 130, in the reign ofHadrian. The fort was abandoned for about 20 years during theAntonine re-occupation of Scotland. It was rebuilt in the reign ofMarcus Aurelius and occupied until about 270 – probably the last time it served military purposes.[12] What remains of the stone structure is now buried under a field. Many Roman artefacts from the site may be found in theKendal Museum.
Early travellers to Kendal complained of eight miles of "nothing but a confused mixture of Rockes and Boggs."[13] Riding horseback was the fastest form of travel, as the road was "no better than the roughest fell tracks on high ground and spongy, miry tracks in the vallies."
It became clear it was unjust and beyond the power of a thinly scattered rural population to maintain a road used for through traffic. "Whereas the road is very ruinous, and some parts thereof almost impassable and could not, by the ordinary course appointed by the Laws then in being for repairing the highways, be amended and kept in good repair, unless some further provision was made." In 1703, by Order of the Quarter Sessions of the Barony of Kendall, the surveyors of highways were to make the roads good and sufficient for the passage of coaches, carts and carriages. In 1753 theKeighley and Kendal Turnpike brought a stage coach service fromYorkshire as far as Kendal.[14]
Kendal is known for Kendal mint cake, aglucose-based confectionery reputedly discovered accidentally by Joseph Wiper during a search for a clear glacier mint.
Used on numerous expeditions to mountaintops (includingMount Everest andK2) and both poles of the Earth, its popularity is mainly due to the very astute decision of the original manufacturer's great-nephew to market it as an energy food and supply it toErnest Shackleton's 1914–1917Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
By the time the business was sold to a competitor,Romney's, in 1987, there were several rival mint-cake producers; some of these businesses are still in business.
Snuff manufacture in Kendal dates from 1792, when Kendalian Thomas Harrison returned from learning its production inGlasgow, Scotland. He brought with him 50 tons of second-hand equipment, all carried on horseback. Pipe tobacco and other tobacco products were added later to the firm's production. Ownership of the firm passed to a son-in-law, Samuel Gawith, whose eponymic firmSamuel Gawith & Co. remains in business. After Gawith's death in 1865, the firm passed to his two eldest sons, being administered initially by trustees, including Henry Hoggarth, and John Thomas Illingworth.
Illingworth left the firm in 1867 to start his own firm, which remained in business until the 1980s. The youngest son of Samuel Gawith subsequently teamed with Henry Hoggarth to form Gawith Hoggarth TT, Ltd. Both firms continue in business in Kendal, producing snuffs and tobacco products used around the world. Samuel Gawith and Company holds the distinction of employing the oldest piece of industrial equipment still in use in the world: a device manufactured in the 1750s.[citation needed]
The Maude, Wilson & Crewdsons Bank was established in "Farrers House", Stramongate in 1788. Joseph Maude,Christopher Wilson and Thomas Crewdson were the original partners. In 1792 they moved into a specially constructed premises at No 69, Highgate. The Wilson family, who lived atAbbot Hall, withdrew in 1826 at a time of the paperpanic of 1825 caused by a run on the banks. Under the style of W D Crewdson & Sons, the remaining family continued until the amalgamation in 1840 with John Wakefield & Sons founded byJohn Wakefield. The bank was eventually bought out by Barclays.[15]
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Themunicipal borough of Kendal was created in 1835; until 1894 it was also anurban sanitary district. The borough boundaries were altered in 1935 under aCounty Review Order to include a patch ofSouth Westmorland Rural District. Thecivil parishes of Kirkland and Nether Graveship became in 1908 part of Kendal Civil Parish, whose boundaries thereafter were the same as the borough's. From 1888 to 1974, Kendal was the centre of theadministrative county ofWestmorland, althoughAppleby was the traditionalcounty town.
The borough was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, becoming part of theSouth Lakeland district ofCumbria. Kendal as asuccessor parish kept its owntown council.
In April 2023, Kendal became the seat of the newWestmorland and Furness council area. The councils ofCumbria andSouth Lakeland were abolished at the same time.
Kendal is part of theWestmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency, of whichTim Farron is the current MP, representing theLiberal Democrats.[16]
Kendal stands on theRiver Kent, and is mostly ringed by low hills:Scout Scar to the west,Potter Fell to the north, andBenson Knott andHelm Hill to the east. To the south the River Kent winds through rolling dairy- and sheep-farming terrain before reaching the sea atMorecambe Bay aroundArnside. Although Kendal is near the Lake District National Park, formed in 1951, it does not lie within the park's boundaries.[17] Kendal's location surrounded by numerous rural villages makes it an important commercial centre for a wide area. It has been dubbed "The Gateway to the Lakes".[18]
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Kendal has a marine west-coast climate, category Cfb on the Köppen Climate Classification. It has moderately warm summers and mild winters with precipitation at all times of year. In July and August the average daily maximum and minimum are 19 and 11 °C (66 and 52 °F) respectively. The corresponding ones in January and February are 6 and 1 °C (43 and 34 °F).[19][20]
Kendal's early prosperity was based largely on cloth manufacture. In the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture ofsnuff and shoes – the K Shoes company remained a major employer in the town until its factory closed in 2003.[21] There are still several industries based in the town, such asGilbert Gilkes & Gordon (manufacturers of pumps and turbines), James Cropper paper makers (based inBurneside, who make, at no profit, the paper for theRemembrance poppies for theRoyal British Legion[22]), Mardix (switchgear),Lakeland, and Kendal Nutricare, which has a facility for making baby milk in the north of the town. Tourism is now a major employer, but there is also a significantIT and design sector, enabled by increasedbroadband availability.
On 26 February 2003, Kendal was grantedFairtrade Town status.
Kendal railway station lies on theWindermere Branch Line.Northern Trains provides direct services toWindermere to the north and toOxenholme andLancaster to the south, which are both on theWest Coast Main Line.[23]
Local routes from the bus station serve destinations such asAmbleside,Barrow-in-Furness,Keswick,Lancaster andPenrith, with most services operated byStagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire.[24] Long-distanceNational Express coaches run to Preston and Birmingham.[25]
Kendal is located about 8 miles (13 km) from theM6 motorway. It is bypassed on the west side by theA591 road, linking it toWindermere and Keswick, and by theA590 leading toBarrow. It is also the end point of theA65 road toKirkby Lonsdale,Skipton andLeeds, and a destination on theA6 road toPenrith. Kendal is signposted off the M6 at junctions 36 (A65, A590), 37 (A684 road), 38 (A685 road) and 39 (A6). A three-mile, £1.9m A591 bypass opened on 29 August 1971.
TheLancaster Canal was built as far as Kendal in 1819, but the northern section was rendered unnavigable by the construction of the M6. Part of this section was drained and filled in to prevent leakage; the course of the canal through Kendal has now been built over. The canal towpath, however, remains as a footpath through the town. A campaign is underway to restore the canal as far as Kendal.
TheQueen Katherine School, on Appleby Road, is a secondary school withacademy status. The school also has a sixth form.[26]
Kirkbie Kendal School, formed from a merger of Kendal Grammar School & Kendal High School is a secondary schoolBusiness and Enterprise College serving the area. It operates as afoundation school with academy status. Its former pupils include the historianDavid Starkey.[27]
Kendal College provides further and higher education courses and the training for employers.[28]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Border.[29]
Kendal's local radio stations areBBC Radio Cumbria,Smooth Lake District,Heart North West; community on-line stations are Lake District Radio,[30] and Bay Trust Radio.[31]
The town's local newspaper isThe Westmorland Gazette.
Kendal Town Football Club plays in theNorth West Counties Premier Division, with home games at Parkside Road Stadium.
Kendal RUFC plays in the 5th tier of theEnglish rugby union system, with home games at Mint Bridge Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,500.
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Kendal speech, known as Kendalian, is an example of theCumbrian dialect spoken in the surrounding area.
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Kendal has long maintained a locally active, voluntarymountain search and rescue team based at Busher Walk. Along with nearby teams, it helped at theGrayrigg derailment in February 2007. Kendal Mountain Rescue Team is one of ten current teams that joined with Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs and Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit to form a Cumbrian umbrella organization, the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association.[38][39]
The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the Town of Kendal:
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