By historian Roger Bingham of Ackenthwaite:

In 1839 The Westmorland Gazette mixed pride and prejudice in reporting improvements completed at Kendal Parish Church:

"It must be gratifying to every well-wisher of our church establishment that the excellent peal of bells are to be again set a-ringing.

"They have long been at rest through the instrumentality of political ‘quacks’ and dissenting ‘growlers’, but ‘time works wonders’ so that some gentlemen in the town have been eminently successful in procuring a subscription to defeat the enemies of ‘pure and undefiled religion’ to the satisfaction of the well affected portion of the public.

"By the way, it is very much to be wished that the church music were somewhat improved: almost everyone complains of the singing department and the chanting has, for some time, been pronounced by strangers and the public of Kendal as being wretched.

"Let our clergy men and very efficient curate exert themselves to make the music what it ought to be."