While you are in town it is well worth paying a visit to the superb Abbot Hall Art Gallery with its magnificent displays of 18th-century artworks in their authentic Georgian settings, as well as the attached Museum of Lakeland Life that will take you back in time to the Edwardian heydays of the region.

And, of course, don’t leave without sampling the legendarily sweet mint cake, a local delicacy that has been hauled to the top of practically every mountain in the world.

Quick Tips:

Discounts are available if you plan to visit more than one of the town’s museums, so don’t forget to ask about this before you purchase your ticket.

Best Way To Get Around:

Kendal is served by busses that run from Barrow-in-Furness to Windermere, taking you into the very heart of the Lake District. There is also a train station with services to Lancaster, Carlisle, and beyond.

The first hall was built the 14th century alongside the Norman parish church for the Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary in York, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, it passed through the hands of various rich families until 1759, when Colonel George Romney had the place completely rebuilt by the eminent architect John Carr. The austere grey building set amidst tree-lined parkland is an imposing site, and once again, became the home for a series of well-to-do families until being acquired by the town in the late 19th century spending spree that had previously lead them to purchase Kendal Castle.

With the funds all but spent, the town opened the parkland up to the public and left the building to decay until 1950, when a trust was formed to raise funds, conduct repairs, and put together a collection. The gallery was opened to the public in 1962, displaying portraits by local 18th century favourites George Romney and Daniel Gardner and contemporary furniture by Gillows of Lancaster. The collection has continued to grow and now includes magnificent views of Windermere and the Lake District by other 18th- and 19th-century artists such as P J de Loutherbourg, J M W Turner, and John Ruskin as well as many other Georgian paintings, furnishings, and objets-d’art.

What truly sets this gallery apart for me is the decision to display the painting within a recreated Georgian setting, giving the visitor the chance to envisage the works as the artist had intended them, making this well worth a visit.

Kendal’s first Norman fortification, Castle Howe, was abandoned in the early 13th century in favour of the new Kendal Castle, which was constructed by Baron Gilbert Fitz Reinfred, sheriff of Lancaster, on the old pastoral lands of the somewhat appropriately named Castle Hill. Oh, all right, maybe the hill was named after the castle was built. The new location offered plenty of room for expansion, and the castle rapidly grew.

As I made my way up the hill and around the castle I couldn’t help but feel that the crumbling remains of the curtain wall and the outer defensive ditch still look a very formidable defence indeed, and I was greatly relieved when I finally located the entrance. Emerging into the massive central courtyard, I was immediately struck by the scale of this medieval fortified residence. The most substantial ruins of the once magnificent Great Hall are complete with vaulted under-croft and the substantial garderobe tower, which, as the name suggests, once held the castle toilets.

The other substantial remnant is the round Troutbeck Tower across the courtyard, originally a lookout tower. Complete with a fireplace and en-suite garderobe , it still offers unparalleled views over the town. A more thorough search will also turn up the remains of the well, the chapel, and other structures, but there is little to hold you here for long. The castle passed into the hands of the Parr family, and local legend says that Queen Catherine the Sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII was born here in 1513, although this is unlikely, as the castle is believed to have already been abandoned and in an advanced state of decay by this time as shown in a survey carried out in 1572.

The castle was acquired by the town in 1869 and opened to the public to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. The bitterly windswept ruins now make a romantic viewing point from which to survey the town and the mountains beyond.

The English Lakes brought to life through real objects

Curiously tucked-away around the back of the magnificent and imposing Abbot Hall Art Gallery in the slightly less magnificent and imposing old stable block is one of the regions finest little museums.

This is a marvellously presented ethnographical collection that attempts to tell the tale of life in the region in times long since gone. It is centred on a detailed recreation of a typical Edwardian street scene, where you can browse the displayed wares of a pharmacy, tailors, photographers, and toyshops gathered from the museum’s extensive collection of Edwardian and Victorian everyday curiosities.

This centrepiece is augmented by a number of recreated interiors from a local 17th-century farmhouse, including a bedroom, a parlour, and a fully-equipped kitchen that brings the museums collection to life within a truly authentic setting and allows you to vicariously step back in time.

Other features include numerous workshops, many of which are operational with regular craft displays that show you the workmanship that would have gone in to creating the museums collection of works from the arts and crafts movement that attempted to revert the Victorian move towards mass production by promoting more traditional values.

Finally, no visit could be complete without a visit to the reconstructed study of local author Arthur Ransome the creator of long-term children’s favourite "Swallows and Amazons," a traditional boys-own adventure story set upon the waters of the lakes. Here you can see his desk, typewriter, and original manuscripts, while younger children can get a feel for the story in Captain Flint's Locker.

This pleasant little museum is an excellent diversion for all ages and provides a very good introduction to life on the lakes for anyone heading on into the Lake District National Park.

Kendal is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the arrival of the Normans ushered in a new era for the town as the motte-and-bailey Castle Howe was constructed for the first Baron of Kendal on a prominent position overlooking the town. This new lord, Baron Ivo de Tailebois, granted the old parish church and its land, still known as Kirklands, to the newly founded Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary at York. The church was rebuilt in Norman style using the sandstone from the original Saxon church that had been scavenged from the old Roman fort at nearby Watercross when its occupants were recalled to Rome at the end of the 4th century. A magnificent hall was also built for the Abbot, imaginatively named Abbot Hall. This is now home to an excellent art gallery, while the stables house the Museum of Lakeland Life, both of which are well worth a visit.

Kendal quickly reestablished itself as a market town with the Market Square in the centre of town playing host to a twice-weekly market (Wednesdays and Saturdays) since the 12th century. This brought an age of prosperity to the town and the old Castle Howe was abandoned, of which only the earthworks now remain marked by an 18th-century column, as the more prestigious Kendal Castle was built on the other side of town. The unique location and flourishing market lead to Kendal becoming the centre for the country’s burgeoning wool trade, and the prosperity that this brought saw the town’s distinctive limestone buildings start to grow up around the square, not least of which was the magnificent Town Hall that now houses the Tourist Information Centre.

As the wool trade started to die off, Kendal managed to reinvent itself as a major tourist stop-off, somewhat cynically billing itself as "the gateway to the lakes" despite being some 10 miles from Windermere. The gamble paid off, and the town is now home to some fine museums and art galleries showcasing the best of the region, making it an essential stopover on your way into the Lake District National Park.