Cafeteria, Information Centre And Adjoining Boathouse At Fell Foot Park

The Cafeteria, Information Centre, and adjoining boathouse at Fell Foot Park is a historic building located in Staveley-in-Cartmel, dating back to 1869, as indicated by an inscribed fireplace. Constructed from coursed slate rubble with water-worn limestone dressings, it features a slate roof. The boat entrance is marked by a triangular limestone arch with a keystone, a portcullis, and sliding studded doors, with 20th-century glazed doors behind.

Flanking turrets are topped with limestone crosses and have projecting embattled parapets. The gable is also embattled, adorned with a limestone cross and finial. The right side of the building has two windows and an entrance with large limestone lintels, along with an extension under a catslide roof. There are both a cross-axial stack and a gable-end stack, while the rear includes a window and an entrance accessed by steps.

Inside, the structure features cast iron arch braces with scrollwork on the roof trusses, a small bracketed balcony over a round-headed fireplace with cable moulding, and an inserted balcony at the end. The boathouse on the north side projects to the east and includes an open gabled shed to the west, supported by iron columns and ornate cast iron roof trusses. The front platform has a ramp leading to the center, and a ramp to the north is equipped with iron rails.

This building is part of a group of boathouses constructed for Colonel G.J.M. Ridehalgh of Fell Foot, who was a member of the first sailing committee of the Windermere Sailing Club from 1854 and one of the founders of the Royal Windermere Yacht Club; the original house on the site has since been demolished.