Stricklandgate House Trust receives £4.65m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards a £5.5m project to conserve the Grade II listed Kendal building.
Stricklandgate House Trust has been awarded £4.m by the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards a project to conserve the Grade II listed building and former museum in Kendal, which now houses local charities.
The funding will support the circa £5.5 million project, ‘Stricklandgate House 4 Sustainable Heritage’.
The Georgian building, which is around 250 years old, has undergone many alterations and extensions over the years and requires repair and renewal.
The project is designed to conserve the building, improve accessibility and environmental sustainability, and create a Community Hub and Community Lounge, alongside enhancing existing office and community meeting spaces.
Stricklandgate House has been a centre for the charitable sector under the stewardship of Stricklandgate House Trust since 1993. It is home to 18 local organisations, used by more than 50 others, and supports over 13,000 people a year.
“Stricklandgate House boasts a fascinating history featuring stories of William Wordsworth and John Southey, and more recently it has grown to be a stalwart for the communities of Kendal,” said Helen Featherstone, director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The building was constructed in 1776 for Joseph Maude, a merchant and co-founder of what became Kendal Savings Bank.
In 1854 it was leased to the Kendal Literary and Scientific Society, which used it as the town’s library and museum, and whose founder members included the geologist Adam Sedgwick and the poets William Wordsworth and Robert Southey.
The building later served as the offices of South Westmorland Rural District Council and, from 1974, South Lakeland District Council.
The project is also supported by Westmorland and Furness Council, Kendal Town Council, the Frieda Scott Trust, Cumbria Community Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Kendal Rotary Club, the Hadfield Trust and personal donations, including from Maude family descendants.
