The Story of…

Stricklandgate House Restoration

In 2009, some major works were undertaken to restore Stricklandgate House to something reasonably close to its original appearance.

The project has been supported by several agencies, the most important being the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Weatherproofing the building

A major concern was to restore the original lime plaster render on the front elevation.

Lime Plaster is typical of the period - it is hard wearing and weatherproof but its main advantage is that it dries out rapidly after rain - something important to us as rain is a familiar feature of Kendal's climate.

Poor Building Renovations

During the 20th century, Stricklandgate House was painted with an acrylic paint - someone looking for sturdy weatherproofing. BUT it was not a good idea: for, once water did get behind it, the plaster would not dry out, the water causing a chemical reaction and unsightly blistering.

Stricklandgate House Railings

The original railings were removed in 1940 as part of the war effort.

The Venetian Window

On the rear elevation, there is a magnificent Venetian window, here seen when part of Stricklandgate House - Its former coach house - was used by the Borough fire brigade.

Joseph & Sarah Maude

Stricklandgate House was built in 1776 for Joseph Maude, a successful merchant, bill broker and money lender.He was a cofounder of one of Kendal's first banks.

Stricklandgate House was an elegant residence. According to a census in 1787, the household comprised Joseph Maude and his wife Sarah, their nine sons and three daughters, two manservants, five maidservants, a coachman, liveryman and stablehand.

They were accommodated in a separate building, which persists today, scarcely altered but linked to the house and to the newer build at the rear.

Joseph Maude soon established himself as one of Kendal's most influential merchants. While residing at Stricklandgate House, Joseph and his wife and family, had a major influence on the social and economic development of Kendal.

Joseph Maude died in 1803. The eldest of his sons, Thomas Holme Maude, continued to live here: he was mayor of Kendal in 1799-1800 and again in 1813-14.

Kendal Banks

In 1815, the building became a commercial premises - still owned, at least in part, by the Maudes - for the Kendal Savings Bank.

This poster, printed at the time expresses confidence in the local banks.

But and most importantly for us few alterations were made to either the external appearance or to the interior decorative details of Stricklandgate House.

Prominent visitors to the house

From 1854, the occupancy of the premises changed again, when Stricklandgate House was leased to the Kendal Literary and Scientific Society, to house its meetings and its collections.

Membership of the Society included Adam Sedgwick (the distinguished geologist), William Wordsworth, Robert Southey (the Poet Laureate of the time), and John Wilson (another local poet, also known as "Christopher North").

The pioneering chemist, John Dalton, became a member during his residency in Kendal, but he had died in Manchester in 1844 before the society moved to Stricklandgate house.

Stricklandgate House as Museum

In 1896, the Society relocated Kendal Museum into Stricklandgate House, where the public had access to parts of the Society's collection of artefacts.

The society was no longer a rich one, closing finally in 1913. Many of the finest items of its collection were acquired by the British Museum in London.

Stricklandgate House Prerestoration

The house was returned to private ownership and residential use, having been bought by Dr Samuel Noble. He died in 1926 but his widow continued to live here until her death, in 1945.

Stricklandgate House then stood empty for a couple of years before being compulsorily purchased by South Westmorland Rural District Council in 1948, who used it as its main administrative offices and to locate its Council Chamber.

As part of the major local-government reorganisation of 1974, the Rural District Council, together with the Borough of Kendal and a series of urban and rural districts, from Sedbergh to Ulverston and Ambleside to Arnside, became a single authority, South Lakeland District Council, which chose Stricklandgate House for its headquarters.

The final stage in the history of Stricklandgate House followed the relocation of the District Offices to South Lakeland House, near Kendal Town Hall, in 1990. It had been intended to sell Stricklandgate House, though an economic recession and an overhigh asking price contributed to the House remaining empty for the next three years.

At last, in 1993, the Council leased the premises to a group of local charities as The Centre for Voluntary Organisations. The present Stricklandgate House Trust, formed by the lessees, bought the lease in 1998, with the help of a grant from the National Lotteries Charity Board.

Restored Stricklandgate House

Stricklandgate House is a fine example of a mid-Georgian town house. Its front elevation is elegant and well proportioned but it is not symmetrical like later Georgian styles. It has three storeys and seven bays.

On the ground floor, there are three double-hung sash windows to the right of main doorway but only two to the left; this last bay is taken up by the archway that gives access to the rear.

The seven sash windows of the first floor and the seven casements on the second floor all have"moulded sills, with the central window on each floor set in a moulded architrave.

The doorway has a triangular pediment above with a simple dentil decoration. The supporting columns carry simplified Corinthian capitals.

The steps retain the original cast-iron handrails. All other railings were removed as part of the war effort in 1940. The present imitations were cast as part of the 2009 restorations.

The stucco banding to the ground floor of the main, eastern elevation is typical for a late eighteenth-century house.

On the upper floors, the walls have been repaired and restored to finish close to the original lime plaster. The breathable surface is ideal for a wet climate, as the barrier it creates dries out rapidly.

The acrylic paint that had been applied during the twentieth century was presumably intended to weather-proof the exterior - which it can do very well. However, when damp gets behind it - as in time, it inevitably does - it cannot dry and causes ugly spalling.

The rest of the House and the whole of the Cottage (or servants' quarters) were always unrendered, showing the roughly-dressed limestone blocks and rubble masonry. These walls have been repointed with lime mortar as part of the restoration.

Rear of House

A striking feature of the rear elevation is the Venetian window at first-floor level; it was designed to allow light to the main internal staircase.

Into the house

As already mentioned, the layout of the interior and a great many of the rooms within Stricklandgate House are little altered since the House was built.

Not all rooms are intact but a wealth of Georgian architectural features is shared among the better examples.

Entrance Hall

The Hallway is approached from the present main entrance to the House and also from the side-door, the covered carriage entrance opening under the arch and providing shelter and a little privacy to family or guests arriving or departing by coach.

The door, with its cast-iron strap hinges, is another original feature.

Doorway

Most of the doors to the main living rooms are original, as are the surrounding architraves.

The original folding, hinged wooden shutters for the sash windows also remain, although many are now painted in and no longer function.

Ceiling Cornice

The ceiling cornice in the Hallway echoes the dentil decoration on the external pediment.

Staircase

The main staircase is original, the only alteration being the fitting of white treads to each step - a regrettable addition but an essential one, given the present functions of Stricklandgate House.

The balustrades and the decorated newel post at the foot of the stairs are entirely typical for a mid-Georgian town house of this quality.

The Room to the North

The room to the north side of the Entrance Hall is one of those that remains scarcely altered, apart from some chipboard partitions.

Its most striking feature is an original fireplace and grate, together with the original plaster moulding to the overmantel.

The cast-iron grate is of high quality: unusual for its survival in an original location and excellent condition.

Two separate side frontplates are decorated with classical motifs. The architrave is of grey marble.

The frieze beneath the mantel shelf is beautifully decorated with a series of festoons and rosettes, surrounding a central urn. Smaller urns are featured on the corner blocks.

The mantelshelf is of the fireplace is decorated with a sequence of bead-and-reel features. The "triglyph" border is repeated in an otherwise plain ceiling cornice.

Upstairs

Moving upstairs to the first floor, there is a landing leading to the main living rooms.

The ceiling cornice has the same dentil design seen in the Entrance Hall. The semi-circular moulding in the entrance hall is repeated.

The original central ceiling rose, beautifully moulded in plaster, also survives.

Principal Room

The principal room, at the north-eastern corner of the House is another that is well preserved.

The dimensions, roughly seven by five metres, suggest it was the main dining room. Again, there is a superb fireplace, the most elaborate of those that survive:

The chimney breast, fireplace and grate are all virtually unaltered. The architrave to the fireplace opening is of a yellow/orange marble.

The cast-iron grate is of high quality and also has separate front plates - these bear oval, classically-inspired, garland decorations.

The frieze below the mantel shelf comprises three panels. The central one is decorated with an urn and festoons device. Rosettes and festoons appear on the panels either side. The corner blocks carry urns.

The mantel shelf is decorated with a band of plain dentil moulding, immediately beneath a band carrying a repeating fluted design.

Principal Room Ceiling Cornice

The ceiling cornice in the principal room is the most elaborate in Stricklandgate House.

A band of "egg-and-dart" decoration sits above a band of "bead-and-reel" mouldings which border a wallmounted band carrying a pattern of foliate scrolls

South-Eastern Room

The next room, on the south-eastern corner of Stricklandgate House, features another original chimney breast and fireplace though of rather more modest design.

It is undecorated but for the eared motif found elsewhere in the House.

The front plates to the grate are of sandstone and are undecorated. The frieze below the mantelshelf is decorated with a series of Islamic-inspired motifs.

Such designs became popular only during the last quarter of the eighteenth century.

Though inelaborate, the fireplace is of considerable interest, for its presentation as an example of contemporaneous experiments in design.

North-Western Room

The room in the north-western corner also remained relatively unaltered.

Its large fireplace is of lesser quality than the others we have considered. It has the similar motif on the architrave, though is otherwise plain.

It has lost its cast-iron grate, probably in Victorian times, to be replaced by the smaller brick structure that survives today. The four festoons echo the design on the fireplace in the dining room.

Second Floor Windows

The rooms on the second floor were originally bedrooms and were finished rather plainly. The casement windows are apparently original - the window catches are of a type in use during the eighteenth century.

The Attic

Until 1998, this was the attic filling the entire roof space. It was partitioned and fitted out as offices in 1998, but the original trusses and beams were retained as a distinctive feature.

The tie beams are jointed with wooden pegs. The timbers and the skilful joinery have remained intact throughout the life of the building.

These beams were not intended to be exposed to view - so it is interesting to see the chiselled carpenters' marks, identifying the trusses and their positions.

The Basement

The basement of Stricklandgate House has provided storage space and fuel store for each of its sequence of users over the years but several original features remain.

The plinth, with its oval slate work surface, stood in the centre of what was the basement pantry.

The slate shelving was built to store wine, in a separate part of the cellar, behind the slatted door.

Service Wing and Coach House

Our tour cannot be complete without a brief visit to the Service Wing and the Coach House.

The surviving service wing is itself little altered but, unfortunately, it lost a fifth (and possibly a sixth) bay, and a south-pointing extension, during the twentieth century, to accommodate the new South Westmorland Council Chamber.

Besides servants accommodation, this building also housed the main kitchen for Stricklandgate House.

Tall Chimney

The tall chimney may have been an early addition to the building - to carry smoke above the living rooms of the Maudes in the main house! Again, internal alteration has robbed the building of its original fittings, although the recent restoration revealed the remarkable craftsmanship and good condition of the roof trusses and beams.

The Coach House

The remaining shell of the Coach House reveals clearly the wide portal to the carriage shed and two stable entrances, though the Council Chamber sliced through the more southerly of these.

The slate roof probably yielded at about the same, but the present interlocking metal cover may have come a little later.

It is probably too late to correct these twentieth-century modifications (vandalism is not too strong a word) - they would not be tolerated nowadays. Yet enough of it survives to recapture the original structure and purpose of the Coach House.

For a number of years, from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, the Coach House was used by the Kendal Fire Brigade.

The photograph of the fire brigade, from about 1900, is posed outside the back of Stricklandgate House.

Some of the contemporary Museum exhibits appear to be maintaining a watchful eye on the proceedings!

Stricklandgate House Today

This window on the past is a recurrent theme of Stricklandgate House.

This presentation and the exhibition in Stricklandgate House help us, the present occupants of the premises, to share as widely as possible, its physical heritage and its place in the history of Kendal.

Today, its primary use is as a Centre for Voluntary Organisations based in South Lakeland, is well-suited to this magnificent House.

Through this introduction, we have been pleased to show off some of its many fine features.