Kendal is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It is 39.5 miles (63.6 km) south of Carlisle, on the course of the River Kent, and has a total resident population of 27,521. Historically a part of Westmorland, Kendal today is known largely as a centre for tourism and as the home of Kendal mint cake. Its buildings, mostly constructed with the local grey limestone, have earned it the nickname the Auld Grey Town.