Stunning Sedgwick House
Following our boat trip on the Kendal to Lancaster canal, I have realised the connection with the canal and a grand house at Sedgwick nearby.
Sedgwick House is a Grade II listed building located in the picturesque village of Sedgwick in Cumbria, England. It was built in 1868 as a country house for the Wakefield family, who owned the local gunpowder works. The house is designed in the Victorian Gothic style, with distinctive turrets and crenellations.
In 1852, at Gatebeck near Kendal, a gunpowder manufacturer was formed.
The company was registered under the name of C W H Wakefield and Company.
The gunpowder was transported from Gatebeck via a horse-drawn tramway to Wakefield’s Warf on the canal.
From there it was for transported down the canal on to Milnthorpe railway station.
What I didn’t realise is the fine house known as ‘Sedgwick House’ was the home of William Henry Wakefield the owner of the gunpowder factory.
To conclude, from the look of things, gunpowder manufacturing was a lucrative trade at the end of the 1800s.
If you are looking for a pet-friendly holiday cottage close to Sedgwich House and the old Low Wood Gunpowder Works, enquire here.
