The First Castle

The first castle at Carlisle was built over part of the first Roman fort by William II (‘William Rufus’; reigned 1087–1100) after he defeated the local warlord Dolfin in 1092.

The first castle may have been a ringwork – a simple enclosure of earth and timber, using the natural slope to the north, with a deep ditch cut as a defence to the south. Henry I (r.1100–35) visited Carlisle in 1122 and ordered that it be ‘fortified with a castle and towers’. This may represent the origin of the massive keep,^[2] and these works were still in progress in 1130.^[3]

After Henry I’s death in 1135, Carlisle was retaken by David I, King of Scotland (r.1124–53), who is said to have built ‘a very strong keep’ there. He may have been completing work begun by Henry I, which leaves the dating of Carlisle’s keep an open question.^[4]

Henry II of England (r.1154–89) visited Carlisle in 1186 and made additions that possibly represented the earliest stage of the ‘palace’ complex in the inner ward.^[5] In the early 13th century King John (r.1199–1216) may have been responsible for rebuilding the outer curtain wall and the inner ward wall in stone.^[6]

The 15th and 16th Centuries

Carlisle played an important part in the turbulent history of the 15th and early 16th centuries, when the rule of law broke down over virtually the whole border region. On both sides, clan and family groups formed into armed bands of ‘reivers’, who regularly robbed and pillaged their neighbours.^[10]

In an attempt to manage the problem, the English border region was divided into three ‘marches’, and lord wardens were appointed as the Crown’s chief representatives. Carlisle Castle was the seat of the Lord Warden of the West March. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III (r.1483–5), was among the notable figures who filled the role.^[11]

After 1538 England’s diplomatic isolation was emphasised by Scotland’s renewed alliance with France. Henry VIII (r.1509–47) ordered a review of Carlisle’s defences.

The result was the largest campaign of building that the castle had seen since the 12th century, directed by a Moravian engineer, Stephan von Haschenperg.^[12]  These works included the lowering of the keep and the construction of an artillery platform on its roof, the thickening of the inner ward walls, and the building of the half-moon battery.

Civil War

Carlisle Castle should have become obsolete as a border fortress after the Union of the English and Scots Crowns in 1603. That it did not was due to the bitter opposition in Scotland to the religious policies of Charles I (r.1625–49), which contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642.

Garrisoned by the Royalists in 1642, Carlisle was one of the few places in the north that held out for the king after the defeat of his main northern army at Marston Moor, in July 1644. In October of that year a Parliamentarian army swiftly surrounded Carlisle with guns and earthworks, and settled down to starve the city out.

In spring 1645 English troops joined them, and their grip on the city became tighter. Food began to run out: all the horses were eaten, then the dogs and rats. After the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645, there seemed no more hope of relief, and on 25 June the city surrendered.

From Garrison to Monument

After 1746 the castle sank into a state of somnolence and neglect. In the later 18th century French prisoners of war were held there. Minor repairs were carried out to the defences, including the drawbridge in 1783. 

From the 1820s the government’s fears of revolution led to the maintenance of garrisons in several provincial towns, and Carlisle Castle became an important army barracks. 

The first building to go up in the outer ward was Arroyo block, followed by Gallipoli block in 1829, initially built as a single-storey canteen and enlarged in 1876. A hospital was constructed in 1832, described as the ‘worst army hospital’ in Britain. This is now Arnhem block. 

The army continued to extend and develop the castle buildings well into the 20th century. The magazine and militia store were built in the inner ward, and Alma and Burma blocks and the headquarters of the Border Regiment in the outer ward.