Between 23rd March and 5th April 2007, North Pennines Archaeology Ltd undertook an archaeological excavation on land at Riverside Place, K-Village, Kendal, prior to the proposed development of the site. The remains of an 18th century tannery were believed to survive at the site, which was located on the west side of the River Kent, immediately to the south side of Kendal town centre. This tannery is illustrated on Todd's Plan of Kendal, dated 1787.

The excavated area was located in a staff car park on the north side of K-Village, and was 162m2 in size. Archaeological features were revealed over most of this area, which could be assigned to three main phases of past activity. The earliest phase was associated with the post-medieval agricultural use of the site, and comprised a series of parallel plough furrows believed to date to the 17th or 18th centuries.

Archaeological remains associated with the 18th century tannery consisted of a series of nine tanning pits, associated rubbish pits, and linear features dating to the 18th or early 19th centuries. The archaeological and environmental evidence indicated that the pits were used for the tanning of sheep hides rather than cattle. An iron scraper was also recovered that was probably used for removing hair from the hides. These features were deliberately backfilled at the end of their use, and were sealed beneath a layer of made ground, which was related to the redevelopment of the site in the early 19th century. Three large tanning pits for tanning cattle hides were also identified, and were associated with a later phase of leather production. The animal bone assemblage also supported the interpretation that both sheep and cattle hides were being processed at the site at different times in the tannery's history.