Kendal: Black Hall (69 Stricklandgate)
At last a house Fox must have seen, though not quite in the same form. Black Hall is a
16th-century building: in 1575 it was the home of the first Alderman (Kendals
original equivalent of the Mayor) Henry Wilson. Notice the characteristic early Cumbrian chimneys, which look almost too
heavy for the house.
In 1832 it became a brush factory, hence the charming bristly black hog sign over the shop front (a copy: the original is in
the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry at Abbot Hall). The sash windows are early 19th-century, the inappropriate colour scheme
distinctly 21st-century.