Kendal, United Kingdom

Kendal, United Kingdom

Kendal United Kingdom

Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Windermere and 19 miles (31 km) north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England, within the dale of the River Kent, from which comes its name. The 2011 census found a population of 28,586, making it the third largest town in Cumbria after Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. It has fame today mainly as a centre for shopping, for its festivals and historic sights, including Kendal Castle, and as the home of Kendal mint cake. The town's grey limestone buildings have earned it the nickname "Auld Grey Town". A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal has formed round a high street with fortified alleyways, known locally as yards, off to either side, which allowed local people to shelter from the Anglo-Scottish raiders known as Border Reivers. The main industry in those times was the manufacture of woollen goods, whose importance is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its Latin motto Pannus 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 the Battle 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 Norman motte and bailey (now located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland. The most recent is from the late 12th century, as the castle of the Barony 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 of Edward III of England. Rumours still circulate that King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine 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 King Henry VIII.
Wikipedia
Recommended airport
Walney Island (BWF)
Nearby destinations
  • Lake District a 33.25 km
  • Lancaster a 31.51 km
  • Barrow in Furness a 39.22 km