DOI Heft:
No. 268 (July 1915)
DOI Artikel:Tucker, Arthur: Picturesque Kendal
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21213#0126
Picturesque Kendal
“OLD PUMP INN, KENDAL.” BY ARTHUR TUCKER, R.B.A.
still older one. The Castle Dairy is another
interesting relic of the past—a dignified old building
still in a good state of preservation. Subjects like
these and indeed many others can be found if the
artist cares to explore the
less frequented courts that
branch off from the prin-
cipal streets. Certain old
Elizabethan houses with
outside galleries have, alas,
been swept away within
recent years ; nevertheless
the town still retains a
delightful air of antiquity,
suggesting in itself not
only the peaceful life of its
inhabitants, but of that
eventful time when this
borderland was the scene
of forays and bloodshed.
A memorable period in
the history of the town
was in 1331, when John
Kempe, a woollen manu-
facturer of Flanders
having obtained permis-
sion from Edward III,
selected Kendal as his “ kendal castle ”
106
place of business and established the woollen
industry. During the next seven years great
numbers of weavers came over from Brabant and
settled here, the town becoming famous for the
manufacture of its cloth, of which the “ Kendal
Green ” immortalised by Shakespeare was only
one variety. Before turnpike roads were made
and waggons came into use, these cloth goods
were carried on pack-horses to all the principal
towns and cities, including the metropolis. At
this period there were no fewer than three hundred
and fifty pack-horses in Kendal used for this
purpose. There is in the Highgate at the
present time an old building called the Bishop
Blaize Inn, which no doubt dates back to the
time of these early Flemish weavers, for we are
told that “ St. Blaizius, the martyr, was the patron
saint of wool-combers and has been popularly
deemed the inventor of wool-combing, but for
this there is no authority. Blaizius was Bishop
of Sebaste in Armenia, and was martyred a.d.
316. Iron combs were used for tearing his flesh,
and so the wool-combers availed themselves of
the association of ideas and put themselves
under Bishop Blaize’s protection.” The custom
of celebrating the day prevailed for genera-
tions in many of our northern manufacturing
towns; it was made the occasion of a general
holiday, with a procession consisting of masters,
masters’ sons, apprentices on horseback in uniform,
BY ARTHUR TUCKER, R.B.A.
“OLD PUMP INN, KENDAL.” BY ARTHUR TUCKER, R.B.A.
still older one. The Castle Dairy is another
interesting relic of the past—a dignified old building
still in a good state of preservation. Subjects like
these and indeed many others can be found if the
artist cares to explore the
less frequented courts that
branch off from the prin-
cipal streets. Certain old
Elizabethan houses with
outside galleries have, alas,
been swept away within
recent years ; nevertheless
the town still retains a
delightful air of antiquity,
suggesting in itself not
only the peaceful life of its
inhabitants, but of that
eventful time when this
borderland was the scene
of forays and bloodshed.
A memorable period in
the history of the town
was in 1331, when John
Kempe, a woollen manu-
facturer of Flanders
having obtained permis-
sion from Edward III,
selected Kendal as his “ kendal castle ”
106
place of business and established the woollen
industry. During the next seven years great
numbers of weavers came over from Brabant and
settled here, the town becoming famous for the
manufacture of its cloth, of which the “ Kendal
Green ” immortalised by Shakespeare was only
one variety. Before turnpike roads were made
and waggons came into use, these cloth goods
were carried on pack-horses to all the principal
towns and cities, including the metropolis. At
this period there were no fewer than three hundred
and fifty pack-horses in Kendal used for this
purpose. There is in the Highgate at the
present time an old building called the Bishop
Blaize Inn, which no doubt dates back to the
time of these early Flemish weavers, for we are
told that “ St. Blaizius, the martyr, was the patron
saint of wool-combers and has been popularly
deemed the inventor of wool-combing, but for
this there is no authority. Blaizius was Bishop
of Sebaste in Armenia, and was martyred a.d.
316. Iron combs were used for tearing his flesh,
and so the wool-combers availed themselves of
the association of ideas and put themselves
under Bishop Blaize’s protection.” The custom
of celebrating the day prevailed for genera-
tions in many of our northern manufacturing
towns; it was made the occasion of a general
holiday, with a procession consisting of masters,
masters’ sons, apprentices on horseback in uniform,
BY ARTHUR TUCKER, R.B.A.