Kendal Castle is a medieval fortification to the east of the town of

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, in northern England. The castle, which is atop a glacial

drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ("little ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or groun ...

, was built in the 13th century as the

Caput baroniae In the customs of the kingdom of England, the ''caput baroniae'' (Latin, 'head of the barony') was the ancient, or chief seat or castle of a nobleman, which was not to be divided among the daughters upon his death, in case there be no son to inh ...

for the

Barony of Kendal The Barony of Kendal is a subdivision of the English historic county of Westmorland. It evolved from one of two ancient baronies that make up the county, the other being the Barony of Westmorland (also known as North Westmorland, or the Barony ...

. By the 15th century, the

Parr family Parr may refer to: People * Parr (artist) (1893–1969), Inuk artist * Parr (surname) Places ; United Kingdom * Parr, St Helens, a township in Merseyside * Parr Brook, a stream in Greater Manchester ; United States * Parr, Indiana * Parr ...

owned the castle.

History

The earliest reference to a castle at Kendal occurs in 1216 and might refer either to the surviving stone castle at Kendal or the older castle in the town, Castle Howe. The castle was built in the late 12th century as the home of the Lancaster family who were Barons of Kendal. The best-known family associated with the castle was the Parr family; including Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. Her family had lived at Kendal since her ancestor Sir William Parr () married the heiress of Kendal, Elizabeth Ros, during the reign of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

. By the time Catherine Parr was born, the family had long deserted the castle which was already falling into disrepair. Catherine's father

Sir Thomas Parr Sir Thomas Parr (1478 – 11 November 1517) of Kendal in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, was a courtier and is best known as the father of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. Early life and family Thoma ...

preferred to live in the centre of court in London. Her grandfather Sir William Parr (1434–1483) seems to be the last of the Parrs to have lived at Kendal Castle. Queen Catherine Parr was once thought to have been born at the castle; however, modern research has shown that it was in great disrepair by the 16th century and she was most likely born in

Blackfriars, London Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London. Blackfriars Priory The name first occurs in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from as has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the ...

. The Parr family had their properties, including Kendal Castle, confiscated by the Crown in 1566. Kendal_Castle_Ruins

Notable visitors

Poet

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

visited the ruins on a walking tour of the Lakes in the summer of 1818. He and his companion Charles Brown stayed the previous night at

Endmoor Endmoor is a small village within Cumbria, England, situated close to the A65 road. It is about from Kendal, just south of Oxenholme, and is in the parish of Preston Richard. Endmoor is a community with small businesses including the club in ...

. They then walked on to

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

Layout

The castle is roughly circular, and is bounded by an wide ditch. The curtain wall was roughly circular, with three mural towers unevenly spaced around the circuit, and a gatehouse on the north side of the castle; in the interior, to the east of the entrance was a hall with a tower further to the east. An assessment by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England in the first half of the 20th century suggested that the hall was built in the 14th century.

Investigation and preservation

A small excavation led by J. E. Spence and involving pupils from Heversham Grammar School was carried out on the site of the

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

in 1951. Barbara Harbottle led excavations at the castle in 1967–69 and 1971. A geophysical survey was carried out at the castle in 2001 and identified a possible ditch. The site, which is open to the public, is maintained and managed by Westmorland and Furness Council. On 1 April 2023, Local Government Reorganisation merged South Lakeland District Council, Eden District Council and Barrow Borough Council with Cumbria County Council to form a new unitary authority for the area.

References

External links