Kendal Castle

Kendal Castle. As it might have appeared ca. 1400. , The earthworks of the first castle in Kendal can still be seen on Castle Howe, to the West side of the town. Accommodation in the wooden motte and bailey castle which occupied that restricted site must have been very cramped and this may have been why it was abandoned in favour of the present site., The present castle was built by an early Baron of Kendal, possibly Gilbert Fitz Reinfred (the Sheriff of Lancaster between 1205 and 1215) or William, his son. Gilbert joined the rebellious barons and, following William's capture at the siege of Rochester in 1215, his castle was forfeited to the crown., It was restored to William in 1241 and eventually passed by marriage to the Parrs in 1383, becoming their ancestral home. The best known member of the family was Queen Katheryn (1513-48), the last wife of King Henry VIII., Abandoned and in a state of decay in 1572, the Castle was acquired for the town in 1896 to mark Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee., A survey or Kendal Castle carried out in 1572 when it was already in ruins, shows that it was more a fortified residence than a military strongpoint., "The out walls embattled 40 ft square, within the same no building left, saving only on the North side is situate the front of gatehouse, the hall with an ascent of the stairs to the same, with a buttery and pantry at the end thereof; one great chamber and 2 or 3 lesser chambers, and rooms of ease adjoining the same, all being in decay both to glass and slates and in all other reparations needful. Under the hall are two or three small rows of cellard. The walls are circular, guarded by three towers and a keep, with a large square area in the centre, being all in state of dilapidation. There is dovecote in the south side thereof in good repair.", A further report made in 1588 shows that the buildings had deteriorated further., "...the moste parte of the rouffs of the said Cesiell are falne downe, the tymber and sclayte pitifilly broken, the gutters of lead, iron in windows and doors pilfered and stolen away....", This reconstruction in based on the existing remains, excavations carried out by Barbara Harbottle between 1967 and 1971; the 16th century surveys detailed above; a plan and a reconstruction drawn by an antiquary, the Reverend Thomas Machell, in the late 17th century; and an engraving published by Samual and Nathanial Buck in 1739. The building within the courtyard and the details of the roofs, gatehouse, and upper storeys are conjectural; the chapel is based on Mitchell's reconstruction.