Kendal

Sister cities

• Rinteln

History

A chartered market 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 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 (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. A Roman fort stood about 2 miles south of today's town centre, at a site later known as Watercrook. It was built about AD 90, originally in timber, rebuilt with stone about 130, in the reign of Hadrian. The fort was abandoned for about 20…

Geography

Kendal stands on the River Kent, and is mostly ringed by low hills: Scout Scar to the west, Potter Fell to the north, and Benson Knott and Helm Hill to the east. To the south the River Kent winds through rolling dairy- and sheep-farming terrain before reaching the sea at Morecambe Bay around Arnside. Although Kendal is near the Lake District National Park, formed in 1951, it does not lie within the park's boundaries. 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". 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 respectively. The corresponding ones in January and February are .