Kendal Archive Centre

Facilities

This archive centre provides:

• one public access computer to allow brief 'look-ups' of a limited selection of useful websites containing local sources, including CASCAT, Ancestry and Find My Past
• disabled and wheelchair access - go to signposted access at rear of County Offices and buzz the intercom
• toilets

Sources available at this archive centre

Records relating to the historic county of Westmorland, and also some for the Sedbergh-Dent district (formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire) and for the Cartmel district (formerly in Lancashire North of the Sands). 

These include:

• Church of England and Nonconformist records
• Local Authorities
• Civil Parishes
• Statutory Bodies
• Official records
• Businesses and Industries
• Families and Landed Estates
• Solicitors
• Societies and Organisations
• Schools
• Charities

Significant collections include:

• The archive of Thomas H. Mawson, landscape architect of Lancaster and Windermere, late 19th to 20th centuries (collection reference WDB 86)
• Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) of Appleby Castle records (reference WDHOTH/1/10)
• Sir Daniel Fleming of Rydal Hall papers, late 17th century (collection reference WDRY). Ordnance Survey maps of Westmorland and Trade Directories

Genealogy sources at Kendal Library

Sources include:

• Church of England Parishes and Nonconformist Church registers I.G.I.
• Census returns 1841-1901 for Westmorland and the Sedbergh-Dent district (formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire)
• Census index for Cumberland, Westmorland and the Isle of Man 1881
• Probate records (Deaneries of Kendal and Furness, and Carlisle Consistory Court 1536-1860)
• Newspapers

Collections that require advance ordering

Some collections may need to be ordered in advance, this is because they are either stored at our Carlisle outstore or need additional time for us to produce them at Kendal. 

Before you visit this centre, check our advance order collection page.

Book a visit

Book a visit to Kendal Archives Centre

How to get here

Buses to Kendal stop in the town centre, which is 5 minutes walk from the County Offices.

The nearest main line railway station is Oxenholme which is 2 miles from the town centre; taxis or buses can be caught at the station. Kendal Station, which is a short walk from the Archive Centre, is on the Oxenholme - Windermere branch line.