'Kendal - The County Hotel'

Station Road, LA9 6BT

Location : Kendal
Map - Ordnance Survey - SD 520931

The County Hotel is situated at the junction of Station Road and Wildman Street. Although a map dated 1611, shows buildings on this site, it’s not until 1833, when a town map actually names the building as an inn.

Records from 1796, suggest that the inn was known as the Lowther Arms, a name the building was to retain until the railway came to Kendal.

In 1832, James Brougham was elected the town’s first MP, and it’s thought that the Lowther Arms was renamed the Brougham Arms, in recognition of this achievement

By 1840, the inn had reverted back to the Lowther Arms name.

The Lancaster to Kendal section of the railway was opened for business in 1846, with the Windermere extension opening the following year. By 1849, the inn was once again renamed, this time to the Railway Inn.

Notable dates:

• 1851, James Livesy is shown as the landlord, his arrival advertised by local paper the Kendal Mercury.
• 1874, Robert and Hannah Chorley become the owners of the inn.
• 1879, the inn has another name change, from the Railway Inn to the Commercial Hotel.
• 1892, records show that the name had once again changed, this time to the Railway Hotel
• 1901, the name changed again, to the Railway and County Hotel.
• 1902, the hotel came under the ownership of Whitwell Mark and Co Ltd.
• 1910, the name changed again, this time to the County Hotel, this being the name that is used today.

Words and photos by Matthew Emmott.