About Us

Photo courtesy of Jumpy James Photography

We are a registered charity proud to continuously support and provide our thriving community with social, sporting, cultural, educational and recreational facilities for all to enjoy.

This includes owning and maintaining Staveley Village Hall, Institute, Recreation Ground, Pavilion, Children’s playground and Allotments. These property assets are important to life in our community and are valued at more than £3m.

1934 Trust Deed: Charity Objectives

The object of the Foundation shall be the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parishes of Nether Staveley, Over Staveley and Hugill or Ings and the neighbourhood (hereinafter called “the area of benefit”) without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.

We’ve aged gracefully

In the middle ages the mills at Staveley produced woollen cloth until eventually the industry shifted to Lancashire and our mills were converted to working with wood. The Village received its name from this woodworking industry as Staveley means ‘field of staffs’.

Staveley has a number of listed buildings including its oldest building (and our logomark) - a tower from a medieval church dedicated to St Margaret, situated on the main street (next door to Kimi’s Gelato).

We have always been one of only a few locations in the Lake District to have a train station which was built in the 1840’s.

Our charity started its life with the gifting of the land to build our Institute Building at the same time.

Where can you find us?

You can find Staveley in South Lakeland between Kendal and Windermere at the confluence of two fast-flowing rivers, the Gowan and the Kent, close to the south-eastern approach to the World Heritage Site, the Lake District National Park.

Reston Scar dominates the skyline to the north of the village and Craggy Woods sits above the village to the east. The 81 mile Dales Way long-distance footpath from Bowness-on-Windermere to Ilkley in Yorkshire passes through the village.

Staveley is a fine example of a traditional working village, embracing new opportunities and enterprising outlets for visitors, local businesses and the residential community. At Staveley’s heart is a thriving, active and cohesive community of some 1700 residents with a real sense of community spirit.

Our village has easily commutable access to major cities and airports via:

Trains - Staveley railway station is on the Lakes Line which runs regular trains between Windermere and Oxenholme (the Lake District). Oxenholme station is on the West Coast mainline to Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. There are direct services from Manchester and Manchester Airport.

Buses - The Stagecoach 555 bus service runs between Lancaster and Keswick calling at Staveley throughout the day.

Bike - The National Cycle Network Route Six, which joins London to The Lake District routes through the middle of Staveley, allowing easy access to both Windermere (5.5 miles) to the West, Kendal (5.4miles) to the South East and Manchester (100 miles) to the South.

Car - The A591 main road navigates a route through the heart of the Lake District linking Staveley, Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick to Kendal and Junction 36 of the M6 Motorway. Staveley is 10 miles or 10 minutes from the M6.