The River Kent, which gives Kendal its name, begins from Hall Cove, a corrie at the head of the valley, before flowing through the reservoir.

It can be reached by road only by travelling through the village of Staveley, which sits at its mouth where the river meets the Gowan Beck coming in from Ings.

In the past it was a tradition of the valley's inhabitants to travel from Kentmere to Mardale village church as part of the Easter Sunday celebrations.

It collects beneath Kentmere Common in the reservoir which was built in 1848 to control the flow of water to the lower pastures.

The river opens out into a transitory lake called Kentmere Tarn just south of the confluence with Hall Gill.

The parish of Kentmere is divided into four quarters: Over Staveley and Hugill are also situated within the Kent valley, along with the small settlements of Elfhowe and Browfoot.

Near Kentmere Hall stands the "Brock Stone" or Badger Rock, a large free-standing rhyolite boulder.

The lapilli are believed to have been spherical originally, but were squashed into elliptical shapes as a result of intense pressure during the formation of the Caledonian Mountains.

Kentmere Hall is famous for its tower house; a fortification built for status in the 13th – early 14th centuries – ostensibly to guard against raiding parties from Scotland.

Kentmere Hall's tower has 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) walls, tunnel-vaulted ceilings, a crenellated roof with turrets and a spiral staircase; all built out of local stone.

Other important parts of the manor include Green Quarter on the eastern slopes of the valley where there is a bed and breakfast house, called Maggs Howe, that once was home to a branch of the Gilpin family.

As is often the case with medieval churches, there is an ancient yew tree situated nearby which has been estimated to date back to the time of William I; indicating that worship had been taking place there at an early stage in the village's history.

The valley used to be known for its bobbin mills and for Waterfoot factory which dredged the bottom of the Kentmere Tarn in the 1950s searching for diatomite.

The first is Jumb Quarry, situated within a few hundred yards of the early settlement at Tongue House, suggesting that the two may have been coexisting in some form or other.

By 1945 a company recorded as being the Kentmere Green Slate Co. Ltd. having its offices in the St. George's Buildings, Blackhall, Kendal owned both sites.

Their notable descendants include George Biddell Airy the astronomer and Henry Airay, who was born in the valley and became Provost of Queen's College, Oxford in 1599.

Postman Pat the cartoon character lived in Greendale which is claimed by his creator to be based on Kentmere and the neighbouring valley of Longsleddale.

After their return, Richard achieved renown for killing the Wild Boar of Westmorland a ferocious animal that had been terrorising the local villages.

The estate of Kentmere was increased during the reign of Henry III by a grant of the Manor of Ulwithwaite to Richard, the grandson of the boar-slayer.

It was lost during the English Civil War when Cromwell's troops destroyed the hall leaving only the fortified tower standing.

1 a footnote to Guilt and Sorrow; or, Incidents upon Salisbury Plain states that some of its lines were taken "From a short MS. poem read to me when an under-graduate, by my schoolfellow and friend Charles Farish, long since deceased.

W. 1842 in a statement by the editor of the volume the footnote goes on to say that: "Charles Farish was the author of The Minstrels of Winandermere" as a result there is some debate as to authorship of the song commemorating Richard Gilpin's achievements).

Crest: A dexter arm embowed I armour proper, the naked hand grasping a pine branch fesswise vert.