Carlisle Castle

Carlisle Castle stands on the site of a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in the north-west corner of England. A Norman motte-and-bailey was built here in 1092 by William II, then rebuilt in stone by Henry I a generation later. The great tower keep dates from between 1122 and 1135 and is one of only 104 such keeps in Britain. The castle walls and keep were rebuilt again after the Battle of the Standard in 1138. For seven centuries it guarded the western Anglo-Scottish border as the headquarters of the Western March. The castle witnessed many sieges and battles. In 1296 John Comyn led a Scottish attack that was turned back by Robert de Brus. In 1315 the Scots laid siege but withdrew for lack of supplies. Mary Queen of Scots was held prisoner here for a few months in 1568. During the English Civil War the castle withstood an eight-month siege in 1644. The last fight came in 1745 when Jacobites seized Carlisle before being driven out by the Duke of Cumberland. Inside the walls stands the 12th-century keep with its thick stone walls and narrow windows. Visitors follow the old city walls that still run for two lengths around the site. A 16th-century artillery battery shows how the castle was adapted for gunpowder. The Cumbria Museum of Military Life tells the story of the Border Regiment and its predecessors. Carvings made by prisoners and soldiers cover doorways and walls, some dating back to the Roman period. The castle remains a working Army Reserve site, with part of the Burma Block still in use.