LIGHT has been thrown on one of Kendal's oldest buildings thanks to an analysis of the wood used to build it.

Sleddall Hall, on Wildman Street, dates back to around 1550 and is a Grade II listed building.

Tree-ring analysis, known as dendrochronology, has been used to help date the front and rear range of the building.

Funded by The Cumbrian & Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (CWAAS), the analysis was undertaken by The Nottingham Tree-ring Dating Laboratory.

The research shows that the front range of the property is older than the back, by at least 65 years. The back range includes a fireplace with a plaster overmantle, dated 1666.

Clive Bowd, heritage consultant and CWAAS member said that the information added to the knowledge of the area.

"Sleddall Hall is important because it forms part of a nuclear of an earlier settlement in Kendal in Wildman Street," Mr Bowd said. "It's one of the earlier post-medieval houses to survive.

"By studying the buildings people lived in you are studying the social history of the settlement in which they're built and you help to build up the history of the environment and the local area so that you can add flesh to the bones of the documents you might have."

Mr Bowd said that Sleddall Hall, now used as an antiques shop, has had a variety of uses over the past 500 years.

"It started off probably as a local weavers house or someone with a little bit of money who could afford to build it," he said.

"In the early 20th century it was probably ripped out and used mainly as weaving workshops so it would have lost a lot of detail and later on it became shops and antique shops so that's changed it a bit as well."

Copies of the survey can be viewed in Kendal Record Office and Kendal Library.

"Unfortunately the tree-ring analysis cannot tell us who built the house and the archival records held in Kendal are still holding their secrets, for the moment," Mr Bowd said.