KENDAL Parish Church could be awarded minster status after a formal request from town councillors.

Members of Kendal Town Council (KTC) agreed at their meeting on Monday night to write to the Bishop of Carlisle asking for the church to be raised to the higher status.

Their letter said the move would have ‘a significant economic, cultural, community and religious impact on Kendal’.

Coun Chris Hogg, the driving force behind the campaign, said: “Having a minster would be a huge status symbol for the town, and a massive boost for the economy.

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“The church doesn’t get the number of visitors it deserves – the architecture is great and there are lots of cultural references, including woodcarving by Arthur Simpson and sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos.

“With Abbot Hall and the Brewery Arts Centre not far away it would help add to the cultural status of that area of the town.”

The letter to Rt Rev James Newcome adds: “The church is keen to be more involved in the activities of the town with stronger links to the festivals it has become known for.”

The term ‘minster’ originally referred to ‘a settlement of clergy’, but has more recently come to mean ‘any large or important church’.

There had been no new minsters since the Reformation until 1995 when Dewsbury became the first parish church to be awarded the title.

Since 1998 a further 16 churches have become minsters.

Kendal Parish Church fits the criteria by being part of The Greater Churches Group – a network of 44 churches which ‘display many of the characteristics of a cathedral’.

It is only four feet narrower than York Minster and the current building dates from 1201, although it occupies the site of a much earlier church.

To be given minster status a church has to be historic, serve the wider community and have influence in its local area.

The Rev Rob Saner-Haigh, priest-in-charge at the church in Kirkland, said: “If it goes ahead, the change in status wouldn’t affect what we do now but it would cement the links this church has with the wider community.

“If it can play a part in bringing people into the town then we’re keen for that to happen.”