Pack Horse Inn

Adjacent to Pack Horse Inn Yard on the west side of Stricklandgate.

Curwen, 1900

"Further north we come to what was once a mass of cottage property, but now a well built house, formerly Brownsword House, being doubtless the residence of the family of that name, one of whom was Mayor in 1694, and another a Vicar of Kendal from 1658 to 1672.

On the accession of James I. to the throne in August 1617, he lodged a night or two here, and knighted three of his suite on the occasion, viz.: Henry Mildmay and George Spenser, both sewers to His Majesty, and Frances Knightly, cup bearer, because, it is said, he could not find any of the local inhabitants flattering enough in their welcome, to receive the honour he had intended to bestow.

In old deeds, dated 1739, and in Pennington's table of 1802 and Taylor's of 1823, this house is said to have been used as a "workhouse for the poor" from 1725-1768.. It then became the property of Benjamin Hurd, and was used by him as a woolen manufactory, after 1803, the Hurds turned the front portion of the factory into a public-house, which becam familiarly known as "Ben Hurd's" and then as the "Pack Horse", doubtless by reason of its being connected with the numerous pack horses conveyong the merchandise of early Kendal. The sign represented a horse with it's packs, fairly adjusted, ready for a journey. The inn however was finally disused as such in 1855, when it became the property of the late W. H. Wakefield."

In 1908 the property was demolished to make way for the Carnegie Library.