Burton-in-Kendal Cumbria the Lake District.

Burton-in-Kendal village south of Crooklands Cumbria

Burton-in-Kendal

Burton-in-Kendal existed before the Domesday book was compiled, and it retains many of its old street names such as Boon Walk, Neddy Hill and Tanpits Lane. The name of the town was written Bortun in the book. It comes from boro which has to do with tithing.

The town was the jumping off place for journeys into the surrounding countryside, now a sheep farming area. Both the Kings Arms pub and the Royal Hotel served as coaching inns to stagecoaches that followed a route through here as early as 1763.

A market began in 1661, and its business grew until Burton-in-Kendal became the largest corn market in Westmorland. The railroads put paid to its importance. The market cross, constructed of limestone in the 18^th century, was a holding spot for lawbreakers who were chained to it with leg irons.

The towns main street displays a number of Georgian houses. The Cocking Yard (a cobbled yard) is lined with 17^th and 18^th century cottages. Burton House was built in the late 18^th century.

The church of St James dates from Norman times, but was restored in the 14^th through 16^th century in the Perpendicular style and again in 1844 and 1872. The lower part of the west tower is still Norman, and the three bay arcades and north chapel are 15^th-16^th centuries. A window of 1300 sits in the east wall of the vestry. The oak pulpit is Jacobean. Pieces of a Saxon cross survive.

Near the village is the Lancaster canal that links Kendal and Preston. In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries it was used to transport coal.

Location Map of Burton-In-Kendal
Burton-in-Kendal is on the A6070 just off the M6 between junctions 35a and 36.

Photos courtesy Graeme Dougal

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