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{{Short description|Town in Cumbria, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox UK place
|official_name = Kendal
|local_name = Auld Grey Town
|type = Town
|static_image_name = {{multiple image
| border                   = infobox
| total_width              = 250
| image_style              = border:1;
| perrow                   = 1/2/2
| image1                   = Kendal roofscape.jpg
| caption1                     = View over Kendal
| image2                   = Kendal Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1630184.jpg
| caption2                     = [[Kendal Castle]]
| image3                   = Abbott Hall Art Gallery, Kendal.jpg
| caption3                     = [[Abbot Hall Art Gallery|Abbot Hall]]
| image4                   = Holy Trinity Church - geograph.org.uk - 5048051.jpg
| caption4                     = [[Kendal Parish Church|Holy Trinity Church]]
| image5                   = Kendal Town Hall (2).jpg
| caption5                     = [[Kendal Town Hall|Town Hall]]
}}
|static_image_caption = 
|pushpin_map = United Kingdom South Lakeland
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in the former South Lakeland district
|coordinates = {{coord|54.326|-2.745|display=inline,title}}
|population = 29,593
|population_ref = ([[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]])<ref name="bua2011">{{cite web |title=Kendal |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/northwestengland/admin/south_lakeland/E04002617__kendal/ |website=City population |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>
|os_grid_reference = SD5192
|london_distance = {{convert|223|mi|km|1}} [[Points of the compass|SSE]]
|civil_parish = Kendal<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kendal Village Council – Home – Old Market Village, Lake District – Kendal, Cumbria, UK |url=http://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/ |website=Kendal Town Council |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413052838/http://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/ |archive-date=13 April 2018 |access-date=24 April 2018}}</ref>
|unitary_england = [[Westmorland and Furness]]
|lieutenancy_england = [[Cumbria]]
|region = North West England
|country = England
|post_town = KENDAL
|postcode_area = LA
|postcode_district = LA9
|dial_code = 01539
|constituency_westminster = [[Westmorland and Lonsdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Westmorland and Lonsdale]]
}}
'''Kendal''', once '''Kirkby in Kendal''' or '''Kirkby Kendal''', is a [[market town]] and [[civil parish]] in the  [[Westmorland and Furness]] area of [[Cumbria]], England, just outside the [[Lake District]]. It lies within the [[River Kent]]'s dale, from which its name is derived.

In the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, the area was collected under [[Yorkshire]]. The area came under the [[Honour of Lancaster]] before the barony split. The town became the [[Barony of Kendal]]'s seat, in 1226/7 this barony merged with the [[Barony of Westmorland]] to form the historic county of [[Westmorland]] with [[Appleby-in-Westmorland|Appleby]] as the historic [[county town]].<ref name="youngs">F.A. Youngs, ''Guide to the Local Administrative units of England, Vol.II, Northern England'', London, 1991</ref> In 1889, Kendal became the county town. Under the 1974 reforms, it became the administrative centre of the [[South Lakeland]] district. The town became Westmorland and Furness district's administrative centre in a 2023 reform.

It is {{convert|8|mi|0}} south-east of [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]] and {{convert|19|mi|0}} north of [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]]. At the [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 census]], the town had a population of 28,586,<ref name=census2011>{{NOMIS2011|id=E04002617|title=Kendal Parish|access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> making it the second largest town in Westmorland and Furness after [[Barrow-in-Furness]]. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 29,593.  It is renowned today mainly as a centre for shopping,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shop |url=https://visit-kendal.co.uk/discover/shopping/ |website=Kendal Town}}</ref> for its festivals<ref>{{Cite web |title=Events and Festivals - Visit Kendal {{!}} Kendal {{!}} Cumbria |url=https://visit-kendal.co.uk/culture/events-festivals/ |website=Kendal Town}}</ref> and historic sights, including [[Kendal Castle]], and as the home of [[Kendal Mint Cake]]. The town's grey [[limestone]] buildings have earned it the sobriquet "Auld Grey Town".<ref>[https://www.cumbriatouristguides.org/place/kendal-the-auld-grey-town/ Cumbria Tourist Guides. Retrieved 4 August 2020.]</ref>

==Toponymy==
''Kendal'' takes its name from the River Kent (the toponymy of whose name is uncertain but thought to be [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]) and the [[Old Norse]] word ''dalr'' ("valley"). Kendal is listed in the [[Domesday Book]] as part of [[Yorkshire]] with the name Cherchebi (from Old Norse ''kirkju-bý'', "church-village"). For many centuries it was called Kirkby Kendal: "village with a church in the valley of the River Kent".<ref>A. D. Mills, ''Dictionary of English Place Names'', Oxford: OUP, 1998.</ref><ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts, Cambridge: CUP, (2004), under ''River KENT'' and ''KENDAL''.</ref>

==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 [[wool]]len goods, whose importance is reflected in the town's [[Heraldry|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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}} 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]].<ref>Linda Porter. ''Katherine, the Queen'', MacMillan, 2010. p. 21.</ref>

[[File:Watercrook Farm and the River Kent.jpg|thumb|right|The site of the Roman fort at Watercrook across the [[River Kent]]]]

===Roman fort===
{{main|Alavana}}
A [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fort stood about 2 miles south of today's town centre, at a site later known as Watercrook.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Esmonde Cleary, A., R. Warner, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies |title=Places: 89102 (Alone?/Alauna?) |url=http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/89102 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007211354/http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/89102 |archive-date=7 October 2014 |access-date=12 February 2013 |publisher=Pleiades}}</ref> 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 years during the [[Antonine Wall|Antonine re-occupation of Scotland]]. It was rebuilt in the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]] and occupied until about 270 – probably the last time it served military purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=David Shotter |title=The Roman fort at Watercrook (Kendal) |url=http://www.archaeologyuk.org/lahs/Contrebis/25_6_Shotter.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923174157/http://www.archaeologyuk.org/lahs/Contrebis/25_6_Shotter.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> What remains of the stone structure is now buried under a field. Many Roman artefacts from the site may be found in the [[Kendal Museum]].

===Transport===
Early travellers to Kendal complained of eight miles of "nothing but a confused mixture of Rockes and Boggs."<ref>''Being a Relation of a Short Survey of 26 Counties, briefly describing the Citties and their Scytuations, and the Corporate Towns and Castles Herein. By a Captaine, a Lieuten[a]nt. and an Ancient, All three of the Military Company at Norwich.'' British Museum MSS. 34754, pp. 19–20.</ref> 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 the [[Keighley and Kendal Turnpike]] brought a stage coach service from [[Yorkshire]] as far as Kendal.<ref name="kendale">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49337#s4 Introduction To The Main Roads of Kendale] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207165824/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49337 |date=7 February 2013}} British History. Accessed 30 September 2012.</ref>

===Mint cake===
{{Main|Kendal Mint Cake}}
[[File:Kendal Mint Cake.jpeg|thumb|180px|right|Kendal mint cake]]
Kendal is known for Kendal mint cake, a [[glucose]]-based confectionery reputedly discovered accidentally by Joseph Wiper during a search for a 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 supply it to [[Ernest Shackleton]]'s 1914–1917 [[Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition|Trans-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.

===Tobacco and snuff===
[[Snuff (tobacco)|Snuff]] manufacture in Kendal dates from 1792, when Kendalian Thomas Harrison returned from learning its production in [[Glasgow]], 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 firm [[Samuel 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|date=February 2019}}

===The Kendal Bank===

The Maude, Wilson & Crewdsons Bank was established in "Farrers House", Stramongate in 1788. Joseph Maude, [[Christopher Wilson (merchant)|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 at [[Abbot Hall Art Gallery|Abbot Hall]], withdrew in 1826 at a time of the paper [[panic 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 by [[John Wakefield (banker)|John Wakefield]]. The bank was eventually bought out by Barclays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.banking-history.co.uk/kendalbank.html |title=Banking History: Kendal Bank |access-date=19 April 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053851/http://www.banking-history.co.uk/kendalbank.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Kendal Town Hall (2).jpg|thumb|[[Kendal Town Hall]]. First stage completed in 1827, [[clock tower]] later in the 19th century]]

===Civic history===
The [[municipal borough]] of Kendal was created in 1835; until 1894 it was also an [[sanitary district|urban sanitary district]]. The borough boundaries were altered in 1935 under a [[Local Government Act 1929|County Review Order]] to include a patch of [[South Westmorland Rural District]]. The [[civil 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 the [[Administrative counties of England|administrative county]] of [[Westmorland]], although [[Appleby-in-Westmorland|Appleby]] was the traditional [[county town]].

The borough was abolished in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], becoming part of the [[South Lakeland]] district of [[Cumbria]]. Kendal as a [[successor parish]] kept its own [[town council]].

In April 2023, Kendal became the seat of the new [[Westmorland and Furness]] council area. The councils of [[Cumbria]] and [[South Lakeland]] were abolished at the same time.

===Parliament===
Kendal is part of the [[Westmorland and Lonsdale]] parliamentary constituency, of which [[Tim Farron]] is the current MP, representing the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tim Farron |url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/tim_farron/westmorland_and_lonsdale |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601182051/http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/tim_farron/westmorland_and_lonsdale |archive-date=1 June 2013 |website=theyworkforyou.com}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2016 |title=Lake District National Park area map and South extension area |url=http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/760991/LDNP-full-area-map-and-South-area-from-1-August-2016.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113090955/http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/760991/LDNP-full-area-map-and-South-area-from-1-August-2016.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2017 |access-date=11 January 2017 |publisher=Lake District National Park Authority |page=2}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co229517/kendal-a-gateway-to-the-english-lakes-poster |title=Kendal - A Gateway to the English Lakes |publisher=London & North Western Railway |year=1910}}</ref>

{{NSEW|[[Burneside]]|[[Oxenholme]]|[[Sedbergh]]|[[Underbarrow and Bradleyfield]]|||||}}

===Climate===
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 {{cvt|19 and 11|°C}} respectively. The corresponding ones in January and February are {{cvt|6 and 1|°C}}.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=marine west coast climate – climatology |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/365348/marine-west-coast-climate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603030058/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/365348/marine-west-coast-climate |archive-date=3 June 2013 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kendal Climate Guide |url=http://www.worldclimateguide.co.uk/climateguides/unitedkingdom/kendal.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221124600/http://www.worldclimateguide.co.uk/climateguides/unitedkingdom/kendal.php |archive-date=21 February 2013 |website=worldclimateguide.co.uk}}</ref>

==Economy==
Kendal's early prosperity was based largely on cloth manufacture. In the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture of [[Snuff (tobacco)|snuff]] and shoes – the K Shoes company remained a major employer in the town until its factory closed in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 May 2003 |title=Industries of Cumbria – Footwear |url=http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/kshoes.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014210333/http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/kshoes.htm |archive-date=14 October 2013 |access-date=31 May 2013 |publisher=Cumbria-industries.org.uk}}</ref> There are still several industries based in the town, such as [[Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon]] (manufacturers of pumps and turbines), James Cropper paper makers (based in [[Burneside]], who make, at no profit, the paper for the [[Remembrance poppy|Remembrance poppies]] for the [[Royal British Legion]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=White |first=Anna |date=2014-05-24 |title=Meet the company behind our Remembrance poppies |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |language=en-GB |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/10854356/Meet-the-company-behind-our-Remembrance-poppies.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/10854356/Meet-the-company-behind-our-Remembrance-poppies.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2018-08-17 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>), Mardix (switchgear), [[Lakeland (company)|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 significant [[Information technology|IT]] and design sector, enabled by increased [[broadband]] availability.

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

==Transport==
[[File:Kendal railway station's old buildings, Windermere branch, Cumbria.jpg|thumb|right|Kendal station's buildings]]

[[Kendal railway station]] lies on the [[Windermere Branch Line]]. [[Northern Trains]] provides direct services to [[Windermere railway station|Windermere]] to the north and to [[Oxenholme Lake District railway station|Oxenholme]] and [[Lancaster railway station|Lancaster]] to the south, which are both on the [[West Coast Main Line]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern |work=Northern Railway |date=May 2023 |access-date=22 September 2023 |url= https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables }}</ref>

Local routes from the bus station serve destinations such as [[Ambleside]], [[Barrow-in-Furness]], [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]], [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] and [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]], with most services operated by [[Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kendal Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=22 September 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/kendal }}</ref> Long-distance [[National Express Coaches|National Express]] coaches run to Preston and Birmingham.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Where to Catch Your Bus |url=https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/eLibrary/Content/Internet/544/931/6586/6592/6635/4264072636.pdf |website=cumbria.gov.uk/ |access-date=10 September 2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201190049/https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/eLibrary/Content/Internet/544/931/6586/6592/6635/4264072636.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Kendal is located about {{convert|8|mi|km}} from the [[M6 motorway]]. It is bypassed on the west side by the [[A591 road]], linking it to [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]] and Keswick, and by the [[A590 road|A590]] leading to [[Barrow-in-Furness|Barrow]]. It is also the end point of the [[A65 road (Great Britain)|A65 road]] to [[Kirkby Lonsdale]], [[Skipton]] and [[Leeds]], and a destination on the [[A6 road (England)|A6 road]] to [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]]. 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.

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 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.

[[File:Turning bridge Kendal.jpg|thumb|right|A bridge over the old course of the Lancaster Canal, now used as a footpath]]

==Education==
The [[Queen Katherine School]], on Appleby Road, is a secondary school with [[academy (English school)|academy]] status. The school also has a sixth form.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet the Head |url=http://queenkatherine-web.sharepoint.com/Pages/MeetTheHead.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310023324/http://queenkatherine-web.sharepoint.com/Pages/MeetTheHead.aspx |archive-date=10 March 2014 |access-date=10 March 2014 |publisher=Queen Katherine School}}</ref>

[[Kirkbie Kendal School]], formed from a merger of Kendal Grammar School & Kendal High School is a secondary school [[Business and Enterprise College]] serving the area. It operates as a [[foundation school]] with academy status. Its former pupils include the historian [[David Starkey]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-03-08 |title=David Starkey: Laughing all the way to the library |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1860744.stm |access-date=2018-08-17}}</ref>

[[Kendal College]] provides further and higher education courses and the training for employers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New principal appointed at Kendal College |url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/education/16116983.New_principal_appointed_at_Kendal_College/ |website=The Westmorland Gazette |access-date=4 June 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC North West]] and [[ITV Border]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Freeview Light on the Kendal Fell |work=UK Free TV |date=2023 |access-date=23 September 2023 |url= https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Kendal_Fell}}</ref>

Kendal's local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Cumbria]], [[Smooth Lake District]], [[Heart North West]]; community on-line stations are Lake District Radio,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Real Radio, Real People and Really Local! |work=Lake District Radio |date=2023 |access-date=23 September 2023 |url=https://lakedistrictradio.org/about-2/ }}</ref> and Bay Trust Radio.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Bay Trust Radio |work=Bay Trust Radio Radio |date=2023 |access-date=23 September 2023 |url=https://www.baytrustradio.org.uk }}</ref>

The town's local newspaper is ''[[The Westmorland Gazette]]''.

==Sport==
[[Kendal Town F.C.|Kendal Town Football Club]] plays in the [[North West Counties Football League|North West Counties Premier Division]], with home games at Parkside Road Stadium.

[[Kendal Rugby Union Football Club|Kendal RUFC]] plays in the 5th tier of the [[English rugby union system]], with home games at Mint Bridge Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,500.

==Places of interest==
[[File:Holy Trinity Church, Kendal (6947).jpg|right|thumb|Holy Trinity Church, which includes the Parr Chapel and prayers written by the hand of Queen [[Catherine Parr]]]]
[[File:Kendal Castle at sunset.jpg|right|thumb|Kendal Castle]]
*[[Kendal Museum]], one of the oldest in the country, includes exhibits on area history, culture, archaeology, geology, local and world natural history, Roman Britain, and Ancient Egypt.
*[[Abbot Hall Art Gallery]] (housed in a Georgian villa) mounts nationally important exhibitions, such as ''[[David Bomberg]]: Spirit in the Mass'' (17 July – 28 October 2006). The permanent collection covers [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], [[J. M. W. Turner]], [[John Ruskin]], [[Ben Nicholson]], [[Paula Rego]], [[Lucian Freud]], [[Stanley Spencer]] and [[Barbara Hepworth]].
*The [[Museum of Lakeland Life]] in the original stables of Abbot Hall contains exhibits on farming life in the Lake District and a permanent collection of author [[Arthur Ransome]]'s books and belongings.
*[[Castle Howe]], Kendal's first castle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kendal – Castle Howe – Visit Cumbria |url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/kendal/kendal-castlehowe.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315134320/http://www.visitcumbria.com/kendal/kendal-castlehowe.htm |archive-date=15 March 2012 |access-date=24 April 2018 |website=visitcumbria.com}}</ref>
*[[Kendal Castle]], to the east of the earthworks, was probably built while Castle Howe was still in use.
*The [[Religious Society of Friends|Friends']] Meeting House is home to the [[Quaker Tapestry]].
*The Brewery Arts Centre offers theatre, dance, exhibitions, cinema, music, workshops, youth drama, dance, and food and drink.
*The [[Queen Katherine Street drill hall, Kendal|Queen Katherine Street drill hall]] was used to mobilize troops in the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kendal |url=http://drillhalls.org.uk/Counties/Cumbria/TownKendal.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902151951/http://drillhalls.org.uk/Counties/Cumbria/TownKendal.htm |archive-date=2 September 2017 |access-date=1 September 2017 |publisher=The Drill Hall Project}}</ref>
*[[The Lakes International Comic Art Festival]] is held in Kendal every year in October.
*Other places of interest are Kendal Leisure Centre, [[Kendal Parish Church|Kendal Parish Church (Holy Trinity)]], Lakeland Radio Stadium official football ground of [[Kendal Town F.C.]], and *[[Netherfield Cricket Club Ground]], the home ground of [[Netherfield Cricket Club]] and [[Cumberland County Cricket Club]].

==Notable people==
*[[Dave Allen (English musician)|Dave Allen]] (1955-2025), bass player for post-punk band [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]]
*[[Neil Ashton (actor)|Neil Ashton]] (born 1969), actor, appeared in [[Channel 4]]'s [[It's a Sin (TV series)|''It's a Sin'']] and [[Sky Group|Sky]]'s ''[[Brassic]]''
*[[Desmond Bagley]] (1923–1983), thriller writer
*[[Matt Bigland]] (born 1985), guitarist and lead singer for alternative rock band [[Dinosaur Pile-Up]]
*[[Jonathan Dodgson Carr]] (died 1884), founder of Carr's bread makers and social reform campaigner
*[[Ephraim Chambers]] (c. 1680–1740), encyclopedian
*[[Isaac Crewdson]] (1780–1844), Quaker minister born in Kendal
*[[John Cunliffe (author)|John Cunliffe]] (1933–2018), children's author, creator of [[Postman Pat]]
*[[John Dalton]] (1766–1844), chemist and physicist
*[[Arthur Stanley Eddington|Sir Arthur Eddington]] (1882–1944), astrophysicist
*[[Tim Farron]] (born 1970), current [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for [[Westmorland and Lonsdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Westmorland and Lonsdale]] and former leader of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]
*[[Myles Fenton|Sir Myles Fenton]] (1830–1918), railway knight<ref>"Sir Myles Fenton" in ''Leading Men of London'' (London: British Biographical Company, 1895), [https://books.google.com/books?id=hmNji3BPgXsC&pg=PA153 p. 153]</ref>
*[[Nicholas Freeston]] (1907–1978), award-winning Lancashire poet, born in Kendal
*[[Daniel Gardner]] (1750–1805), portrait painter
*[[Britain's Got Talent (series 5)|Steven Hall]], ''[[Britain's Got Talent (series 5)|Britain's Got Talent]]'' finalist 2011 as a comedy dancer
*[[Paul Hogarth]] (1917–2001), artist and book illustrator, who collaborated with such authors as [[Graham Greene]] and [[Sir John Betjeman]] and provided covers for [[Penguin Books|Penguin Books']] editions of [[Shakespeare]]
*[[Steve Hogarth]] (born 1959), vocalist of rock band [[Marillion]]
*[[Geoffrey Kendal]] (1909–1998), [[Shakespearean]] actor and father of [[Felicity Kendal]]
*[[Francis Nigel Lee]] (1934–2011), theologian
*[[Isabella Lickbarrow]] (1784–1847), poet
*[[Shirley O'Loughlin]] (living) photographer, member of punk/post-punk band The Raincoats
*[[Ken Major]] (1928–2009), architect, author and [[molinology|molinologist]], attended Kendal School
*[[Caroline Moir]] (living), author
*[[Eric Pringle]] (1935–2017), writer for TV and radio, including ''[[Doctor Who]]'', lived in the town for 30 years
*[[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]] (1734–1802), portrait painter
*[[David R. Russell]] (1935–2018), antique woodworking tool collector
*[[Keith Stainton]] (1921–2001), politician and Second World War hero in France
*[[David Starkey]] (born 1945), constitutional historian
*[[Alfred Wainwright]] (1907–1991), guidebook author and walker
*[[Mary Augusta Wakefield]] (1853–1910) composer and festival organizer
*[[Wild Beasts]], indie-rock band
*[[Keith Wilkinson (reporter)|Keith Wilkinson]] (living), ITV television news reporter
*[[John Wilson (mathematician)|John Wilson]] (1741–1793), mathematician and astronomer
*[[Mark Wilson (rugby union)|Mark Wilson]] (born 1989), Newcastle Falcons and England Rugby Union player
*[[Philip Whitwell Wilson]] (1875–1956), Liberal politician and journalist

===Sports===
*[[James Ellison (motorcycle racer)|James Ellison]] (born 1980) and [[Dean Ellison]] (born 1977), motorcycle racers
*[[Maurice Flitcroft]] (1929–2007) British golfer, immortalised in the 2021 film ''[[The Phantom of the Open]]'', was evacuated to the town during the Second World War and was a pupil at [[Kendal Grammar School]]
*[[Peter McDonnell (footballer)|Peter McDonnell]]: Footballer
*[[James Rogers (cricketer)|James Rogers]] (born 1958) first-class cricketer
*[[Philip Snow (cricketer, born 1907)|Philip Snow]] (1907–1985), first-class cricketer
*[[William Wakefield (cricketer)|William Wakefield]] (1870–1922), cricketer
* [[Raphael Weatherall]] (born 2004), first-class cricketer for [[Northamptonshire County Cricket Club|Northamptonshire]]
* [[Jack White (cricketer, born 1992)|Jack White]] (born 1992), first-class cricketer for Northamptonshire

==Literary, artistic and musical references==
* [[Lydia Sigourney]] includes the poem ''Kendal'' in her ''Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands'' of 1842, recollections of her visit to Europe in 1840.<ref>{{cite web| last =Sigourney|first=Lydia|title=Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands| url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=6QZaAAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA34| year=1842 |publisher=James Munroe and Company}}</ref>
*Poet [[W. H. Auden]] says his love is "more wonderful" than "a turbine built by [[Gilkes & Co]]. of Kendal" in his prose poem ''Dichtung und Wahrheit''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Auden |first=W. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pe5JEAAAQBAJ&dq=w+h+auden+kendal+gilkes&pg=PA477 |title=The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Poems, Volume II: 1940–1973 |date=2022-06-14 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21930-1 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Paul McCartney]] references Kendal in the lyrics of his 1973 [[Wings (band)|Wings]] song "[[Helen Wheels]]", stating: "The Kendal freeway's fast". In his 2023 book ''[[The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present]]'', McCartney explains that the song was a description of the journey from his farm in Scotland to London undertaken in his Land Rover which he and wife [[Linda McCartney|Linda]] nicknamed 'Helen Wheels', and referencing key places on the route. He explains: "Kendal is in the Lake District, but the 'Kendal freeway' is meant to be a joke because Kendal is a total bottleneck, as anyone who's tried to drive through it will confirm."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McCartney |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTW9EAAAQBAJ |title=The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present |last2=Muldoon |first2=Paul |date=2023-11-07 |publisher=Liveright Publishing |isbn=978-1-324-09468-5 |language=en}}</ref>

==Local dialect==
Kendal speech, known as Kendalian, is an example of the [[Cumbrian dialect]] spoken in the surrounding area.

==Search and rescue==
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}
Kendal has long maintained a locally active, voluntary [[Mountain rescue in England and Wales|mountain search and rescue]] team based at Busher Walk. Along with nearby teams, it helped at the [[Grayrigg 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.<ref>https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/assets/files/downloads/MREWAnnualReview2018.pdf. {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LDSAMRA - Home page |url=http://www.ldsamra.org.uk/ |access-date=2018-08-17 |website=ldsamra.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==Twin towns==
Kendal is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Town Twinning|url=https://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/kendal-town-council/town-twinning/|access-date=11 March 2022|publisher=Kendal Town Council}}</ref>
* [[Killarney]], Ireland
* [[Rinteln]], Germany

==Freedom==
The following people and military units have received the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Town]] of Kendal:
{{Incomplete list|date=May 2019}}

===Individuals===
*[[Arthur Eddington|Sir Arthur Eddington]]: 1930

===Military units===
*The [[Border Regiment]]: 25 October 1947
*The [[King's Own Royal Border Regiment]]: 1 October 1959
*The [[Duke of Lancaster's Regiment]]:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/freedom-parade-in-honour-of-the-duke-of-lancasters-regiment/ |title=Freedom Parade in Honour of The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment |website=Kendal Town Council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529223912/http://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/freedom-parade-in-honour-of-the-duke-of-lancasters-regiment/ |archive-date=29 May 2019}}</ref> 1 July 2006

==See also==
{{Portal|Cumbria}}
*[[Kendal Choral Society]]
*[[Listed buildings in Kendal]]
*[[Kendal Mountain Festival]]
*[[Kendal Town F.C.]]
*[[The Westmorland Gazette]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kendal}}
{{Wikivoyage|Kendal_(England)|Kendal}}
*[http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/kendal-formerly-kirkby-kendal-%C2%A0 Cumbria County History Trust: Kendal (formerly Kirkby Kendal)] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
*[http://www.kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk/ Kendal Town Council]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120404/http://www.kendalmuseum.org.uk/ Kendal Museum]

{{Cumbria}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Kendal| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Westmorland and Furness]]