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Kendal was once one of England's largest parishes including Windermere, Grasmere and fourteen other chapelries, all set in magnificent countryside, yet the backbone of the nation's woollen industry.
'Sixteenth century Kendal appeared a Protestant island in an unreformed sea.' Both town and vicarage were sacked by Royalist forces during the Civil War and during the Commonwealth the Vicars were enthusiastic Presbyterians. The Westmorland Seekers teamed up with George Fox when he visited these parts and the eruption of 'fanaticism' led to the birth of the Quakers who were soon in bitter conflict with the Vicar of Kendal.
Following the restoration of the Prayer Book there was something of a 'High Church' revival, Nonconformity was persecuted and its Academy banished. When Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops came to church in 1745 the Vicar found a pressing engagement and left the Schoolmaster in charge. John Wesley visited Kendal and preached at the Inghamite Chapel but he was not impressed. The Established Church and Nonconformity gradually learnt to tolerate each other and in 1806 the Unitarian Journal published a poem in praise of Vicar Robinson's liberal spirit. Wordsworth wrote a poem in memory of 'The Late Vicar of Kendal'.
The great restorations of the nineteenth century prepared the way for Canon Trench to transform the 'preaching box' into a centre for rich liturgical worship, but not without opposition from the Twelve Wardens.
The Patronage of Trinity College Cambridge is covered in detail and there are accounts of the many Fellows of Trinity who left Cambridge to be Vicars of 'Trinity's Bishopric'. The chapter on parish activities includes parish concerts, the choir-boys' outings and their singing in Blackpool Tower, the visitation of the poor and the breakfast given to over one thousand on Christmas morning.
In the 16th. century the Mass gave way to Prayer Book worship, followed by the rise of Sung Mattins, Choral Communion, the development of the Parish Communion and Common Worship. The services for many military and other special occasions are included. and there is a special chapter on music and the organs.
Each of the Chapelries, including two new important town churches, has its own story to tell, and all achieved parish status in the nineteenth century.
An early convert to Reformation principles, Kendal continued to question authority, producing a vital nonconformity. In 1970 with the advent of the Diocesan Synod, Yorkshireman Canon Needham wrote, 'I am delighted to report that the contingent from the Parish Church has already shown that they are not to be treated as ciphers. The massive authority is still, like a giant spider, at the centre of the ecclesiastical web. Watch it!'
| 155 pages with over 100 illustrations. | £10.95 |
| Post free from Little Trinity Publications, Boxtree Barn, Levens, Kendal, LA8 8NZ | |
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