A SHAKE UP FOR THE CASTLE DAIRY

Castle Dairy is reputed to be the oldest continuously occupied building in the heart of the bustling Cumbrian market town of Kendal so it really does deserve special attention. The distinctive landmark, which dates back to the 14th Century with additions in the 16th and 17th centuries, bristles with history.

The property has undergone a £120,000 refurbishment funded by the building’s owners South Lakeland District Council. English Heritage also awarded a grant to the project and Savoy Educational Trust and Lakeland Vinters and Kendal College provided further funds to equip the building with fixtures and fittings.

The Grade I Listed building has been transformed for a new role as a restaurant/patisserie and art gallery run by Kendal College.

The construction phase of the project was carried out by William Anelay Ltd, a building and restoration firm that dates back to 1747. The Company has already made its mark on South Lakeland’s built environment with an award winning new look for the nearby Stricklandgate House and Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House on the edge of Lake Windermere.

It’s unclear as to whether the Castle Dairy, also known as Garnett House, really was a dairy. Some think the name derives from a corruption of Dowery House or Castle Dowery. Wherever the truth lies, the first mention of the building appeared in 1553 with one Anthony Garnett listed as its owner.

All sorts of rumours abound concerning the building. It’s said to be haunted and a few local historians believe there’s a tunnel that leads into the castle but work on the site suggests that this is nothing more than a myth. There are also a number of intriguing examples of medieval graffiti within the interior as a legacy to the building’s long forgotten former occupants.

The three-month programme has involved both internal and external refurbishment works.

Vernon Carter, MD of William Anelay, explained: “Within the building, we removed defunct and outdated mechanical and electrical services and replaced these with new, taking care to route wiring and cables discretely through existing conduits and voids.

“During previous refurbishments, inappropriate cementitious plasters had been applied. Some of this was removed along with addled lime plaster. Once the new services had been fitted, the walls were re-plastered using a lime haired mix in keeping with a building of this age and construction.

“The ground floor kitchen area set within a modern extension has been totally transformed. We’ve stripped out the existing fixtures and fittings, insulated and whiterock lined the new walls and installed a new ventilation system. The room will be completed with a stainless steel commercial kitchen.”

Windows were in a poor condition when the Anelay team arrived on site and so had to be replaced with new. These were made in keeping with the original design and manufactured locally by Kendal based Kentside Joinery.

The compact upstairs area features two bedrooms with an intact four-poster bed that was said to have been used by Catherine Parr prior to her marriage to King Henry VIII. Sir Thomas Parr, father of the sixth and surviving wife of the Tudor king, was Lord of the Manor of Kendal in the early 1500s. These rooms will remain as they are and form an integral part of the museum display area.

Despite the Castle Dairy having lots of character, some of the external building fabric required much needed attention to keep it water tight and secure.

Vernon added: “The stone chimneys were in a poor structural condition and some had to be carefully dismantled and then rebuilt in the same course by course sequence. These were re-pointed as were large sections of stonework across the building elevations.

“The sandstone slate roof was retained and opened in small areas to permit leadwork renewal. Much of the original slates were then reinstated with a small amount of new to replace those that were damaged.

The Castle Dairy has been out of use for around four years and prior to that it was a very popular and much loved restaurant. It will open in the autumn under the management of Kendal College as a resource that will provide benefits for the student community, tourists and residents of Kendal.

“It’s a wonderful building and, as with every other historic landmark we work on, we’ve used a combination of in-house expertise and suitably skilled local labour to bring it back to life,” added Vernon.

Kendal-based NPS Ltd were the architects overseeing the project on behalf of the building’s owner South Lakeland District Council. Principal Architect John Davies said: “although Castle Dairy is a well-known and much loved landmark in Kendal, very little of its history was reliably documented, and its condition had deteriorated through unsympathetic maintenance over a long period. The proposal that Kendal College should manage the building as a restaurant and gallery provided the Council with the opportunity to make substantial investment in much-needed repair work.”

“The works, which were carried out with great care by contractor William Anelay, included a range of traditional craft-based specifications and techniques, and will preserve the building for generations to come, maintaining its status as an iconic landmark in the town,” added John

Hayley Cowperthwaite,Regeneration Officer with South Lakeland District Councilcommented: “Castle Dairy is now open during the day for teas, coffees and light lunches and will be opening on some evenings shortly.”

Whatever the origins of Kendal’s Castle Dairy are, the building is now made safe for future generations to speculate about its past.

Media Contact:
Rob Wilkinson
E: rob@getpromotion.co.uk
T: +44 1535 656104

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