Kendall House was a private children’s home for girls based in Gravesend, Kent. Until 1986, it was run and funded by the Church of England, overseen by the Joint Council for Social Responsibility for the Dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester.
In the years since its closure, a number of allegations of abusive and inappropriate practice there had been made by former residents. Allegations included inappropriate and over-use of medication, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
The Kendall House Review and Report
In December 2015, the then Bishop of Rochester commissioned an independent panel to review events at Kendall House from 1967 until its closure in 1986.
The Review Panel's report was published in July 2016, and was critical of the conduct at the home, and the subsequent response by the church to concerns made by former residents. View the Kendall House Review Report.
Addendum to the main report
Following the publication of the Kendall House Review report in 2016, the Dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester wanted to ensure that any former residents who had not contributed to it were given an opportunity to record their experiences.
The Kendall House Review Addendum is the result of those conversations with the Review Panel and should be read alongside the original report. The Review Panel released a statement regarding the addendum.
In response to the Addendum Report, The Rt Rev Trevor Willmott, the then Bishop of Dover, issued the following statement:
“The Addendum to the Kendall House Report makes for difficult but essential reading. Bishop James and I are hugely grateful to the women who have come forward – both for the original report and the addendum – for their courage in sharing their stories. They have done this so that we may learn the lessons of the past and we want to assure them that we have fully resolved to do so. I would like to echo Bishop James' apology to them for the pain they have suffered.
"Both dioceses have already made significant progress in responding to the recommendations of the original report and we take the new recommendations very seriously as well. We are deeply committed to creating safer spaces wherever the Church has a presence.”
The Rt Rev James Langstaff, the then Bishop of Rochester, also issued a statement:
“Following the publication of the Kendall House Review, the Diocese of Rochester felt it important to give those former residents who had not been able to participate in the Review the opportunity to share their experiences. The Addendum to the Kendall House Review is the result. We are very grateful to all of the women who courageously came forward to tell their stories, and we recognise how challenging that was.
"The Diocese would like to thank all of the former residents who have participated and we apologise unreservedly to them for the hurt and distress caused to them. Rochester Diocese has recently commissioned an independent audit of all of our safeguarding structures and resources in the light both of the Kendall House review and of current national guidance. We will be working on the recommendations of this audit over the coming weeks.”
Recommendation tracker
The Kendall House Review Panel gave a number of recommendations. View the progress tracker to see how the dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester are progressing with the recommendations.
Other useful information
A video of the response to the Kendall House Report and formal apology by the then Bishop of Dover, Trevor Wilmott and the then Bishop of Rochester, James Langstaff. (Recorded at press conference held on Wednesday 13 July 2016.)