Carlisle Castle
Coordinates: 54 ° 53 ′ 50 " N , 2 ° 56 ′ 30" W.
Carlisle Castle is in the historic old town of Carlisle in Cumbria , England . The fortress is over 900 years old and has been the scene of important events in English history on several occasions . As Carlisle is on the historic border between England and Scotland , it has been the center of many wars between England and Scotland. Today the fortress contains a museum and is open to visitors.
History of Carlisle Castle
In 1066 William II conquered the county of Cumberland, which at that time belonged to Scotland, and in 1093 began to build the first Carlisle Castle next to a fort from Roman times.
In 1122, Henry I ordered Carlisle Castle to be turned into a stone fortress and a city wall to be built, as the eviction from Cumberland led to many attempts by the Scots to retake the county. If the Scots were successful, the English then tried the same. As a result, Carlisle and his castle changed hands over the next 700 years.
The first successful attempt took place during Stephen's Anarchy . The Scottish King David I used the internal English disputes, recaptured the city and completed the city walls. Nevertheless, seven years later, the English succeeded in regaining the town and castle.
In 1568 Maria Stuart ( Mary Queen of Scots ) was imprisoned in Carlisle Castle for a few months. After the unification of Scotland and England in 1707, the city's border location no longer played a decisive role. Carlisle experienced its most important battle during the Second Jacobite Rising in 1745. The rebellious Scottish army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart moved south from Scotland to England. Carlisle and the Castle were occupied by the Jacobites. After the Jacobites' initial successes, Carlisle was recaptured by the English and the Jacobites were finally defeated at the Battle of Culloden . The surviving Jacobites were imprisoned in Carlisle Castle and eventually executed. The Battle of Culloden also marks the end of the armed conflict over Carlisle Castle, as Scotland was again part of the Kingdom of Great Britain after this defeat . Some parts of the castle were razed for material extraction , the remains were used by British border regiments as a depot until 1959 .
Web links
- Carlisle Castle in the English Heritage (English)
- Cumbria's Military Museum at Carlisle Castle
- Carlisle Castle Unofficial Site