Kendal Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Kirby Kendal

In the civil parish of Kendal.
In the historic county of Westmorland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Ruined C13 castle built on a ringwork and barbican of circa 1184, which in turn replaced the Castle How Motte and bailey, stands on a bluff high above the medieval town. It was the centre of the Barony of Kendal, and was ultimately occupied by the Parr family (of Katherine Parr fame), but was deserted after the arrest of the Marquis of Northampton, who was involved with the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne in 1553. The castle was dismantled in 1566. It remained a ruin from then on, with a hall block and a round tower largely standing of C13, with other structures decayed or demolished, and the curtain walls largely rebuilt in the C19 to provide a stock enclosure. The earthworks comprise a nearly circular ditch, 85ft wide, with an outer rampart up to 19ft above the bottom of the ditch, and a small outer enclosure or barbican on the north side.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD522924

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 43198

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 6420

• Web site links
  • http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/kencas.htm
    http://www.graemes-view.co.uk/page98.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/97/kendalcastle.htm
• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p348-9
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p64-6
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p270
    Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p77-8
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p64-6 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p492
    Clare, T., 1981, Archaeological Sites of the Lake District p82-5
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p246-7
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p105-8
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p256 [slight]
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p56-7,77-78
    RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p122-4
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p145-9
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p288-90
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p327-9
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p208
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p311
• Journal Articles
  • Clare, T., 1982, 'Kendal Castle' 129th Annual Meeting, Cumbria and Lake District 1982, CAA p27
    Harbottle, B., 1972, CBA Group 3: Archaeological Newsbulletin for Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland Vol1 p7
    1972, Medieval Archaeology Vol16 p183
    Hurst, D.G., 1969, Medieval Archaeology Vol13 p260-1
    Hurst, D.G., 1968, 'Medieval Britain in 1967: II Post-Conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol12 p179
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12
    Spence, J.E., 1951, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol51 p185-6
    1908, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol8 p84-102
    Ferguson, 1888, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol9 p178-85
    1874-5, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol2 p186-96
    Whitwell, 1866-73, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol1 p71-80
    1800, Gentleman's Magazine pt2 p1129-30
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities13.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#west2]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p481, 483