[7] Kendal takes its name from the River Kent (the etymology of whose name is uncertain but thought to be Celtic) and the Old Norse word dalr ("valley").

[8][9] A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal has formed round a high street with alleyways, known locally as yards, off to either side.

The main industry in those times was the manufacture of woollen goods, whose importance is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its Latin motto Pannus mihi panis (Cloth is my bread.)

The earliest was a Norman motte and bailey (located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland.

[citation needed] The most recent is from the late 12th century, as the castle of the Barony of Kendal, the part of Westmorland ruled from here.

Rumours still circulate that King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine Parr was born at Kendal Castle, but the evidence available leaves this unlikely: by her time the castle was beyond repair and her father was already based in Blackfriars, London, at the court of King Henry VIII.

In 1703, by Order of the Quarter Sessions of the Barony of Kendall, the surveyors of highways were to make the roads good and sufficient for the passage of coaches, carts and carriages.

Snuff manufacture in Kendal dates from 1792, when Kendalian Thomas Harrison returned from learning its production in Glasgow, Scotland.

After Gawith's death in 1865, the firm passed to his two eldest sons, being administered initially by trustees, including Henry Hoggarth, and John Thomas Illingworth.

Samuel Gawith and Company holds the distinction of employing the oldest piece of industrial equipment still in use in the world: a device manufactured in the 1750s.

The Wilson family, who lived at Abbot Hall, withdrew in 1826 at a time of the paper panic of 1825 caused by a run on the banks.

The borough boundaries were altered in 1935 under a County Review Order to include a patch of South Westmorland Rural District.

Kendal is part of the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency, of which Tim Farron is the current MP, representing the Liberal Democrats.

To the south the River Kent winds through rolling dairy- and sheep-farming terrain before reaching the sea at Morecambe Bay around Arnside.

[17] Kendal's location surrounded by numerous rural villages makes it an important commercial centre for a wide area.

[21] There are still several industries based in the town, such as Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon (manufacturers of pumps and turbines), James Cropper paper makers (based in Burneside, who make, at no profit, the paper for the Remembrance poppies for the Royal British Legion[22]), Mardix (switchgear), Lakeland, and Kendal Nutricare, which has a facility for making baby milk in the north of the town.

Northern Trains provides direct services to Windermere to the north and to Oxenholme and Lancaster to the south, which are both on the West Coast Main Line.

[23] Local routes from the bus station serve destinations such as Ambleside, Barrow-in-Furness, Keswick, Lancaster and Penrith, with most services operated by Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire.

Part of this section was drained and filled in to prevent leakage; the course of the canal through Kendal has now been built over.

Kendal Town Football Club plays in the North West Counties Premier Division, with home games at Parkside Road Stadium.

Kendal RUFC plays in the 5th tier of the English rugby union system, with home games at Mint Bridge Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,500.

Kendal has long maintained a locally active, voluntary mountain search and rescue team based at Busher Walk.