Goose Holme

Common Land to the south of Stramongate Bridge used as a recreation area now, previously bounded by the mill race and the River Kent and used as a tenterfield and clothes and other cloth drying area. On it's east side is Thorney Hills (previously Kent Terrace) and Castle Terrace.

Goose Holme

The owners of the Castle granted the whole of Tenterholme to be a possession for ever to the shearmen dyers. The higher part of this ground, now known as Thorney Hills, once joined the island. At what time the race near Stramongate Bridge was formed, or the weir built opposite the new road, we have no information, but Goose Holme is first mentioned in the churchwarden’s books for 1713, when a bushel and half of sand was got from there to roughcast the church with.

The Court sitting on March the 22nd, 1714, held that this land was open to free pasture, together with Dob Freer, Tenter Holme and Thorney Hills. Again in the report of a law suit raised by the action taken by John Ireland to enclose for his own use this piece of ground, I extract the following :—

"Goose Holme belongs to the Corporation of Kendal, as Conservators for the inhabitants, who have common right, from immemorial usage, of pasture, of drying and bleaching clothes upon the Holme, and of procuring sand from the river. Ireland, it was stated, had made encroachments some years since upon the Holme; but the Corporation, having cognisance of the fact, proceeded in a body to the spot, and there, asserting the public right, caused posts to be set up for the use of the inhabitants, in drying their linen &c.”

John F Curwen, Kirkbie Kendal (1900)