The County Hall, also known as County Offices, is a building in Stricklandgate,

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The structure, which was the headquarters of Westmorland County Council from 1939 to 1974, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

In the early 20th century the town hall in Kendal was the meeting place of Westmorland County Council. After finding that the town hall was too cramped to accommodate both the town council and the county council, council leaders decided to procure a dedicated county headquarters: the site they chose was open land on the corner of Stricklandgate and Busher Walk. The new building, which was designed by Verner Owen Rees in the Neo-Georgian style and built by local builders, G. F. Martindale, was opened as "Westmorland County Hall" in 1939. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Stricklandgate; the central bay featured a doorway on the ground floor with a rectangular

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

containing the county

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

; there was a sash window on the first floor and a central turret with a square clock at roof level. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. A brass plaque commemorating council staff who had died in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was erected in the vestibule of the building after the war. After leaving the Royal train at Arnside railway station, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

, visited Westmorland County Hall in August 1956. An emergency control centre, which was intended to accommodate staff in the event of a nuclear attack, was installed in the basement of the building in the 1960s. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Westmorland County Council and Cumberland County Council amalgamated to form a single county council known as Cumbria County Council in 1974. The building was renamed "Kendal County Offices" and continued to serve as the local register office and also as the Kendal and Whitehaven Archive Centre. Although the administrative offices of Cumbria County Council were at Cumbria House in Botchergate in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, formal meetings of the Council continued to be held at the County Offices in Kendal. A programme of major refurbishment works in the archive centre involving the creation of two new strong rooms was completed in spring 2019. In October 2019, the environmental movement, Extinction Rebellion, held a demonstration outside the building. Cumbria County Council was abolished on 1 April 2023, with the southern and eastern areas becoming part of the new unitary authority of

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

. The new Westmorland and Furness Council initially met at the County Hall. In June 2024 the council decided to close the building in September 2024 and move meetings, staff and services to Kendal Town Hall and South Lakeland House.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in Kendal Kendal K Government buildings completed in 1939