Carlisle city walls

Carlisle’s city walls once ringed the old town, running from Carlisle Castle in the north-west to The Citadel in the south-east. Most of the northern and eastern stretches were taken down in the early 19th century, but the West Walls remain largely intact. The surviving walls stretch for about two and a quarter kilometres, marking a boundary that once enclosed the whole town. The walls began as Roman defences but were rebuilt in stone during the 12th century. The North Walls ran east from the castle to Scotchgate and then turned south to The Citadel. The Citadel itself was built in the 1540s by Stefan von Haschenperg as a gatehouse, though it was later blocked off and access shifted to Englishgate nearby. The West Walls still hold back the old river cliff beside the River Caldew. Over time, parts were straightened and altered, and buildings once pressed against them were removed. Today, short stretches of the North and West Walls survive near the castle, with a modern footbridge marking the lost Irishgate. The walls now stand as fragments of Carlisle’s past, visible once more after years of being hidden.