Kendal is a small town in Cumbria, England. The largest town in the district of South Lakeland and the traditional county of Westmorland, it is today known largely as a centre for tourism and as the home of Kendal mint cake. Its buildings constructed with the local grey limestone have earned it the nickname the Auld Grey Town.

Geography

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Kendal stands on the River Kent, surrounded by low hills. It is just outside the Lake District National Park, and is often regarded as being part of the Lake District itself. Although a relatively small town, it is an important commercial centre for a wide area thanks to its rural location.

Kendal railway station is situated on the Windermere Branch Line and gives connections to Windermere to the north, and Oxenholme (on the West Coast Main Line) and Lancaster to the south. Kendal is around 6 miles (10 km) from the M6 motorway, and is bypassed on the west by the A591 road, linking it to Windermere, Keswick and the A590, as well as being the terminus of the A65 road to Kirkby Lonsdale and a destination on the A6 road to Penrith.

The Lancaster 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 also drained and filled in to prevent leakage, and the course of the canal through Kendal has now been developed. A campaign is currently underway to restore the canal as far as Kendal.

History

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Kendal is listed in the Domesday Book as part of Yorkshire with the name Cherchbi.Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place Names, Oxford University Press, 1998. For many centuries it was called Kirkby Kendal, meaning "village with a church in the valley of the River Kent".

A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal is structured around a high street with fortified alleyways (known locally as yards) off to either side which allowed the local population to seek shelter from the Anglo-Scottish raiding parties known as the Border Reivers. The main industry in these times was the manufacture of woollen goods, the importance of which is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its latin motto "Pannus mihi panis", meaning wool (literally 'cloth') is my bread. "Kendal Green" was hard-wearing wool-based fabric specific to the local manufacturing process, and was supposedly sported by the Kendalian archers who were instrumental in the English victory over the French at Agincourt.

The site of several (ruined) castles, the most recent one constructed in the late 12th century, Kendal has a long history as a stronghold of one kind or another. King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine Parr is believed to have been born at Kendal Castle.

Local government

The municipal borough of Kendal was created in 1835 and until 1894 the town was also an urban sanitary district. The borough boundaries were altered in 1935 by gaining a small part of South Westmorland Rural District under a County Review Order.

The civil parishes of Kirkland and Nether Graveship were abolished in 1908 and became part of Kendal Civil Parish whose boundaries were after that the same as the borough.

The borough was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 to become a part of South Lakeland district whose administrative centre Kendal is. The town remained a civil parish with a town council.

Kendal was from 1888 to 1974 the administrative centre of Westmorland although Appleby is the traditional county town.

Economy

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Kendal's early prosperity was based largely on cloth manufacture. In the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture of snuff and shoes; the K Shoes company remained a major employer in the town until its factory closed in 2003. ^* There are still a number of light industries based in the town, though tourism is now one of the main employers.

On February 26, 2003, Kendal was granted Fairtrade Town status.

Kendal mint cake

Kendal is known today chiefly for Kendal mint cake, a glucose-based confectionary reputedly discovered accidentally by Joseph Wiper during his search for the clear glacier mint.

Used on numerous expeditions to mountaintops (including Mount Everest and K2) 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 to supply Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1917 Transarctic Expedition.

By the time the business was sold to competitor Romney's in 1987 there were several rival mint cake producers, many of which are still in business.

Places of interest

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• Kendal Museum of Natural History and Archaeology (one of the oldest in the country, it includes an exhibition on the geology of the Lake District, and a stuffed polar bear)
• Abbot Hall Art Gallery
• Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry
• Kendal Castle
• Friends' Meeting House, home of the Quaker Tapestry

Famous natives and residents of Kendal

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• George Romney, portrait painter
• Yan, Hamilton and Woody of the indie-rock band British Sea Power – raised in Natland, a nearby village.
• David Starkey, historian
• Sir Arthur Eddington, Astrophysicist
• John Dalton, Chemist and Physicist
• Alfred Wainwright, Guidebook author and walker
• John Cunliffe, creator of Postman Pat
• Jonathan Dodgson Carr, founder of Carrs Breadmakers and social reform campaigner

External links

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• The Westmorland Gazette (Local Newspaper)
• Abbot Hall
• Brewery Arts Centre
• George Romneys of Kendal
• Kendal Online (Community Website)
• Illustrated guide to Kendal

Map references

See also

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• Kendal Town F.C.

Notes

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Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 | Towns in Cumbria | Westmorland

Kendal | Kendal | Kendal