Heritage Sites

 

We work closely with English Heritage, amenity groups and local communities to promote the repair and improvement of important heritage sites, particularly those in our ownership such as Kendal Castle and Castle Howe.

 

Kendal Castle - The £0.3m Kendal Castle Centenary Project, undertaken in 1997 with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, involved stone-work conservation, landscaping and path improvements, and interpretation both on site and at Kendal Museum. The council has worked closely with the Kendal Castle Consultative Group and Friends of Kendal Castle to undertake: a geophysical survey involving archaeologists from "Time Team";, an illustrated Guide Book (available at £2.95 in local shops and Kendal Tourist Information Centre).  A new metal staircase providing safe access to Kendal Castle's North West Tower was opened in April 2004.  View an interpretation by the Kendal panel of how the staircase may have looked in the past.

 

We are a member of the Lancaster Canal - Northern Reaches Restoration Group (NRRG), a partnership of 9 organisations committed to restoring the Lancaster Canal to Canal Head, Kendal. This major scheme will bring very significant economic, heritage and recreation benefits to Kendal , South Lakeland and Cumbria, as well as the wider North West region. The NRRG partners include: British Waterways, Lancaster City Council, The Waterways Trust, Cumbria County Council, Inland Waterways Association, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster Canal Trust, Kendal Town Council.  The opening of the new Ribble Link Canal at Preston in 2002 connected the Lancaster Canal to the national canal network for the first time in its history. The restoration of the Northern Reaches opens the prospect of canal boats cruising from "London to the Lakes", with Kendal as the most northerly destination of the English canal network.