Sleddall Almshouses

Now 17 to 30 Aynam Road with a converted chapel at the southern end which is now 30a and 30b Aynam Road.

John Sleddall had these 12 almshouses built for £4250 in 1887 and endowed them with £17,500 to provide an income to maintain each of the houses and to provide an income of 12 shillings a week for each resident. John was descendant of Thomas Sleddall, twice Mayor of Kendal - 1619-20 and 1635-36.

John Sleddall and his brother William Sleddall were both wine merchants and neither married, perhaps the reason for John's generosity and carrying on a family tradition of charitable endowments.

Roger Bingham (Kendal: A Social History, Cicerone 1996) wrote "The story goes that Sleddall had originally intended to build the Alms houses at New Hutton but when he called on the vicar to discuss the matter he was kept waiting in a draughty corridor, so decided to take his charity to Kendal where his ancestor had been the first modern Mayor in 1636."

Originally named "The Sleddall Victoria Jubilee Almshouses" to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. They are very Victorian in appearance - the architect was E.Cox.

They were well appointed compared to the conditions most people of the time endured - they had four rooms and were to be occupied by no more than three people each (even Dowkers Almshouses only had three rooms with a maximim occupancy of two). Unusually they were for men as well as women.

The chapel was integral to the development and provided free pews (many churches and some chapels charged for a place).

For more information have a look at: Matthew Emmott's Cumbria Churches blog

They are still let and managed by the Kendal Almshouse Charity