Former Public Wash House And Baths With Adjoining Public Convenience

The former public wash-house and baths, built in 1864 by Miles Thompson, is located on All Hallows Lane in Kendal. A swimming bath was added when the Corporation took over in 1884, and a single-storey stone-built public convenience was likely added at the same time at the east end. The building is set on a sloping site with consistent eaves height throughout. It features snecked rubble on a plinth of rough-dressed blocks, with similar pilasters at the west end. The gabled entrance block has a hammer-dressed plinth, end pilasters, and decorative bands. The roofs are covered with graduated slate, and the wings have a blocking course and dentils, with a dormer on each side of the entrance block roof. A tall, tapered, octagonal boiler chimney is located at the north-east corner, along with other stacks on the ridge, all of which have corniced stone tops.

The symmetrical three-bay central entrance block includes a part-glazed door with a radiating fanlight, flanked by sash windows above with a blank panel in between; all openings are in semicircular-headed surrounds. Each wing has five paired windows, and the door has replaced the sixth window on the extreme right. The left-hand wing features a lower storey with a door and four segment-headed windows. Additionally, there is a drinking fountain in a niche with a moulded sill on the extreme left.

The establishment of this public facility was a significant local issue during the early 1860s and was financed by public subscription, marking it as the first public building erected in Kendal for a public institution.