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History of Carlisle Castle. For 500 years, until the English and Scottish crowns were united in 1603, Carlisle Castle was the principal fortress of England’s north-western border with Scotland.
- Mary Queen of Scots
On 16 May 1568, a small fishing boat carried Mary Queen of...
- Andrew Harclay
Carlisle Castle featured prominently in the triumphs and...
- Significance
Border Stronghold. For over 500 years from 1092, Carlisle...
- Mary Queen of Scots
His successor, Alexander, took the city in 1216; and as Fordun relates, afterwards the castle, which had held out during a protracted siege. Carlisle was surrendered to the English in 1217, and Walter de Grey Archbishop of York, sent to take possession of the castle.
- Carlisle Castle
- The Jacobite Rebellion
- Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
- Carlisle Cathedral
- Bitts Park
- Courthouse
- Watchtree Nature Reserve
- A Heritage City
Carlisle Castle was the most frequently and ferociously attacked fortress in all the history of English vs Scottish conflict. It changed hands many times and was constantly under siege. It’s remarkable then, that so much of it still survives today. Inside the castle walls is the original castle keep dating to 1120. More recent buildings on the site...
A series of spiral staircases lead to the third floor of the keep, where you get good views across the city. An exhibition about the Jacobite rebellion fills the upper rooms. On 21 September 1745, a Jacobite army of poorly-trained Highland clansmen charged the battlefield at Prestonpans near Edinburgh, against King George II’s army, to fight for Bo...
The first thing we learned when we visited Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, was that we should have allowed more time! There’s lots to see, read, and explore. The exhibitions take you through different periods in history, with prehistoric rock art, stone circles, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Roman Invasion, the Dark Ages, the Norman Invasi...
Carlisle Cathedral was open for an hour after the closure of the museum, so we went to check it out and arrived just as Evensong was about to begin - it’s a half-hour service with a choir taking the lead, so we joined in and immersed ourselves in the whole experience. As we sat on modern chairs, we gazed up at the ceiling, depicting golden stars pa...
Bitts Park in Carlisle dates to 1894 when it was designed to help the people of Carlisle live fit and active lifestyles. Today the park is maintained for much the same purpose, with tennis courts, climbing equipment, and a skating rink, next to floral gardens and parkland. There is a kiddies’ playground and at least four xylophone sculptures that v...
If you walk through the town, you can see the old courthouse and gaol wall. They used to hang people from the gallows here - originally stringing them up just outside the gaol walls, but apparently the locals enjoyed it too much. The authorities eventually decided that public hangings were too gruesome and tasteless - and that people were getting t...
Finally, we headed out of the city to see Watchtree Nature Reserve, which opened in 2002, following the devastating loss of livestock to foot and mouth disease; it devastated the farming industry in the UK at the time. The whole area, once an airfield, became a mass burial ground, and locals wanted to turn something so horrible, into something good...
Carlisle has a huge amount to offer visitors, with glorious historic buildings and plenty of heritage attractions. A short drive from the city is Hadrian’s Wall, a long Roman wall, built just under 2000 years ago, by the Roman Army who occupied England. The wall is 73 miles long and stretches the full length of northern Britain from sea to sea. Tod...
On 16 May 1568, a small fishing boat carried Mary Queen of Scots across the Solway Firth from Scotland to England. Two days later she was escorted to Carlisle Castle. Why did she seek refuge in England, and how did her two-month stay at Carlisle turn into a lifetime of captivity?
Step into the rich and turbulent past of Carlisle Castle in the exhibition that brings the castle’s most famous inhabitants to life. Discover their stories, from Mary Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie, to notorious Border Reivers such as Kinmont Willie Armstrong.
Carlisle Castle is a stone keep medieval fortress located in the city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1092 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over 930 years old and has been the scene of many episodes in British history.
Carlisle Castle was first built during the reign of William II of England, the son of William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066. At that time, Cumberland (the original name for north and west Cumbria) was still considered a part of Scotland.
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