Abbot Hall Art Gallery, managed by the Lakeland Arts Trust, houses an exceptional collection of seventeenth- to twenty-first-century fine art as well as a highly-esteemed, ambitious and imaginative temporary exhibition programme. The building is a Grade I listed Georgian villa on the banks of the River Kent in the historic town of Kendal, gateway to the Lake District. After an extensive period of neglect the building was close to collapse by the 1950s. At this time, a group of concerned locals set up the Lake District Art Gallery Trust (now the Lakeland Arts Trust) to rescue the derelict villa and build an art collection from scratch. Abbot Hall Art Gallery opened its doors to the public in 1962. Highlights are many, but include Romney's masterpiece, 'The Gower Family', the enormous 'Great Picture' triptych as well as modern works by Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and many others.