Carlisle Castle

Visiting Carlisle you will see many attractive buildings especially those constructed from the local red sandstone, including Carlisle Castle (managed by English Heritage).

Its grounds are easy to spot and you can walk around the winsome walls from the outside with a few mighty buttresses to admire.

A myth suggests anyone who tries to vandalise these walls will suffer. Maybe by falling stone?

How grand it is to walk into a castle by the main gate eh? This is where the entrance and the gift shop are. If you wish to read a blow-by-blow account of the castle, the guidebook by English Heritage is a good investment. Here is a potted history.

This site dates back to the 2nd century AD when the Romans built a fort and Hadrian's Wall is close by. The Normans built a castle in 1092 under William II. Then, in 1122, it was constructed in stone under Henry I. Thereafter a seesaw for command between the Scottish and English ensued.

King John commissioned the outer walls for fortification in the early 13th century. Between 1173 and 1461, the Scottish attacked the castle seven times.

Whilst perambulating, the historian in you may wonder at the brick and stone works and notice the different ages, due to reconstructions or additions.

The Half Moon Battery was built in 1542 during Henry VIII's reign. It is a two-tiered semi-circular firing position with the big guns (cannons) atop with rifles and muskets below. The soldiers below initially had a problem with gunpowder smoke, so ventilation holes were put in the roof.

To note, the parade ground which the Half Moon overlooks was a few feet lower back then. It was raised when the parade ground was hardened in the 1820's era. Henry's soldiers had a clear shot across the outer ward in the 16th century.

In 1568 Queen Mary of Scotland was here under 'protective custody' for a few months, along with 30 or so servants and a few ladies in waiting. Elizabeth I had to foot the bill.

The accommodation was a secure 3-story tower. She was allowed out and preferred to walk on the side closer to Scotland. Mary liked a bit of hunting and would put her horse at a gallop leaving her minders behind. Hunting was then forbidden.

All that is left of the tower is the jutting-out semi-hexagonal section. The Victorians had knocked the tower down due to deterioration.

During the English Civil War (1644 to 1645), Parliamentary and Covenanter forces were fresh from victory at Marston Moor (1644), where the Royalists had lost 5,500 men along with supplies, ordinance, and gunpowder. The Covenanters set up camp outside Carlisle city and waited. The Royalists in the castle suffered from starvation, and after six months, they surrendered.

In 1746, the Jacobites who were Bonny Prince Charlie's supporters were defeated at Culloden, therefore, it was power back to England at Carlisle.

A tale is told of the 'licking stones' in the dungeons. There were over 300 prisoners at one point, so some were held at Carlisle Cathedral. It was decided that 19 out of 20 prisoners would be sent to the colonies. Lots were drawn and the remainder were packed like sardines in the dark and damp conditions in the castle's dungeons. It is purported that those trying to stay alive sort moisture from the wet walls, typically by licking the crevices in the stonework, especially as it was a hot summer.

Another myth tells of prisoners licking the stones to prove their innocence. 33 were executed.

After the dungeons, no visit to a castle is complete without a visit to the latrine. Glen, our guide, explained that the waste went straight down and out, causing a stench around the keep's base. So, lavender grown nearby was brought in huge bundles to dispel the pong.

As I'm getting in a pickle regarding sieges and besieges, I will say the castle was under threat 10 times due to its strategic position between England and Scotland. After the last one in 1746 it was neglected for a period

Inside the Keep, there are unusually straight stairs, but don't be disappointed—there are spiral stairs too. The rooms are not furnished, and you can use your imagination to wonder what happened in them or read the information boards.

In one room there were doodles on the wall and door, it was the guards who created them.

Glen (the guide) told of a ghostly myth that involved bones being discovered in the upper part of the Captain's Tower. If you look up there are bricked-in windows and a door. Bones and remains of a tartan dress were discovered during renovations circa 1832. This body is purported to be of a young lady maybe 18 years old and had 3 gold rings, which made this a lady of significance. The mystery deepens when Glen states there were baby bones too.

The only reported ghostly sighting was in 1842 when a guard saw a figure and challenged it to identify itself. This apparition did not stop and 'walked' straight through the guard who then collapsed. He was revived and told his tale, then died hours later. This tale is complete as there is no mention of where the bodies or rings are.

In the 1820s the outer ward was converted to barracks and occupied by troops thereafter. The Half Moon battery was reduced in height and the parade ground was levelled and gravelled.

On the west and north sides of the outer ward, the 'modern' military barracks named after battles that the Border Regiment were instrumental in. One Building, Arnhem was the hospital with a notorious reputation as explained to me by a visitor assistant, 'If you went in with appendicitis you could come out with your leg amputated!'

The Alma building is now home to Cumbria's Museum of Military Life (included in your entrance fee). It is run by The Kings Own Royal Border Regiment and has show-and-tell displays covering 300 years of this county's infantry.

Carlisle Castle was under the care of the former Office of Works, then the Ministry of Works (From 1940), a department of the Government (which English Heritage and Historic England later became), and had some unusual requests for the use of some of the buildings. For example, during the Second World War an anti-aircraft gun was installed on top of the keep and an outbuilding in the inner ward that was a storekeepers office was used to test gas masks.

Why not have a trundle through Bitts Park while you are here eh!