Unitarian Chapel and Schoolroom to North East of Number 40 is a Grade II listed building in the Westmorland and Furness local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 April 1969. Chapel, schoolroom.

Unitarian Chapel and Schoolroom to North East of Number 40

WRENN ID
night-portal-lichen
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Westmorland and Furness
Constituency
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP: Tim Farron (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
14 April 1969
Type
Chapel, schoolroom
Address
Unitarian Chapel and Schoolroom to North East of Number 40, Market Place, Kendal
OS grid reference
SD 516 928
Coordinates
54.32869, -2.74531
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Unitarian Chapel and schoolroom, located to the northeast of number 40 in Kendal, was built in 1720, as indicated by the date on the rainwater head. The chapel was re-roofed in the mid-19th century and underwent restoration, with the schoolroom added in 1882. It was constructed for the Unitarian community.

The chapel features incised stucco on a chamfered plinth and has a wooden gutter supported by dentils. The rainwater heads are positioned between two small faces, possibly cherubs, set in wreaths. The roof is made of graduated slate and the building is symmetrical, consisting of two storeys and five bays. A single-storey porch, likely added in 1882, is made of stone blocks and has diagonal buttresses under a hipped roof with a gable above the door. The double doors are adorned with linenfold panelling and are framed by a segmental-headed surround with decorative labels on the hoodmould. There are three-light stone-mullioned windows on either side of the porch, and tall, two-light, wood-mullioned and transomed windows on either side of the porch, with five similar windows above. The structure includes two strengthening ties between the floors.

Adjoining to the north is the schoolroom, constructed from coursed, squared rubble, with a graduated slate roof featuring a large skylight and a conical iron vent. It is a single-storey building with three bays, a gabled porch with a panelled, segmental-headed door, a 20th-century sash window in the original opening, and a two-light wood-mullioned and transomed window to the right. The chapel and schoolroom also display a very good collection of finely carved early 18th-century tombstones affixed to the walls.

Local climate

Unitarian Chapel and Schoolroom to North East of Number 40 sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,430 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 48 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 89% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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