Captain French Lane - Kendal, Cumbria - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

A plaque on Captain French Lane, Kendal.

"Captain French Lane is a very old thoroughfare that is marked by a very slender street and narrow frontage widths, particularly along its east half, and especially towards the narrow and relatively unprepossessing junction that is formed with the Highgate. Except for a few short lengths the building line is typically uneven such that building corners and ends frequently jut out into the highway to provide strong punctuation in street vistas.
Buildings are predominantly two storey cottages and, while they are rarely particularly tall, the narrowness of the street and lack of shallowness of the pavements make for a very constricted appearance that is nevertheless constantly changing and full of character. This characteristic appearance is disturbed towards the east end by unfortunate modern redevelopment (-2 & E2) and also by the survival of a few taller C19th warehouse buildings, but the narrow street width is generally retained. The street does, however, open up much more towards the west end where the northern side has a much less solidly built up form, which allows for glimpses towards the higher ground of Bowling Fell and across the green lawns of Summerhill, but the south side remains resolutely built up, with low two storey artisan cottages and taller Arts and Crafts inspired houses consistently abutting the rear of the pavement."

SOURCE - (visit link) (6.6.12)

The plaque reads -
CAPTAIN FRENCH LANE
The Lane is an old mediaeval pathway
from the west of Kendal to the Parish
Churck in Kirkland. In 1575, in the
'Boke of Recorde of Kirkbie Kendall'
it was called Rattenrowe Lane and it
was names on John Speed's map in 1610
as Rotten Rowe. From about 1700 it was
renamed after Captain John French who
had lived at the bottom end of the lane.

John French (1620-1689) was a Kendal
Burgess in 1654 and 1659, a churchwarden
in 1660 and was a glover by trade. He was
a Captain in the Parliamentary Army
during the Civil War. Following the
restoration of the monarchy in 1660 he was
briefly jailed for his alleged part in the
Kaber Rigg plot of 1663.

More about the Kaber Rigg plot of 1663 - (visit link)

Type of Historic Marker: Plaque Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Kendal Civic Society Give your Rating: Age/Event Date: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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