City of Carlisle,
England
Warfare and struggle have occurred longer in Carlisle’s history
than in any other town in England. Carlisle is the only town on
English soil which bears a purely British name (CAER-LUEL) and is
the only town missing from William the Conqueror’s Doomsday Book of
1086 due to being in the possession of Scotland!
Modern day Carlisle marks a spot where life has processed
continuously since before the Romans landed in the British Isles.
The Celtic Britons of the lands surrounding Carlisle were called
the Cymry – a link between Cumberland and Wales giving the modern
county name of Cumbria.
Carlisle became a Roman city in A.D. 78 and was known as
Luguvalium meaning belonging to Lugus the great Celtic sun god. The
crude huts of the Britons were replaced by markets, industries, and
houses – some timbered with tiled roofs, floors and even heating !
In A.D. 122, during the Romans’ 300 year occupation, Hadrian chose
the 80 Roman miles route for his wall and forts. The wall’s line
still stretches from the Solway in the West to the Tyne in the East
passing through Carlisle north of the River Eden.
About A.D.383 Carlisle once gain became a British City and in
the 7th Century, during a lull between wars, St. Cuthbert the
Bishop of Lindisfarne began to build a monastery. The 9th Century
saw Danish invasions with Carlisle frequently sacked and burnt. In
945 King Edmund granted Carlisle and the County of Cumberland to
Malcolm, King of the Scots and so began the English/Scottish tug of
war!
King William Rufus of England claimed Carlisle in 1092 and began
setting up the city walls and castle. Carlisle was to see little
peace for the next 650 years. In 1135 David I of Scotland retook
Carlisle and then in 1157 Henry II of England reclaimed the city
and granted Carlisle its first Royal Charter in about 1158. Edward
1, known as the hammer of the Scots, held the English Parliament in
Carlisle in 1298, made the City his headquarters for his Scottish
expeditions and used the castle as his palace.
During the 15 and 16th Centuries the Border was not clearly
marked and lawlessness was rife. "Reivers" or raiding parties of
the notorious Armstrong, Elliot and Graham families were greatly
feared on both sides of the Border. Mary Queen of Scots came as a
guest in 1568 but remained in the castle as Elizabeth I’s prisoner.
By the end of the 16th Century the plague had joined the attack on
Carlisle and one third of its population were dead.
Carlisle supported Charles I during the Civil War and as a
consequence endured its longest siege from October 1644 to June
1645. Special siege coins were minted. The besieging victorious
Scots, in the pay of the English Parliament, repaired the damage to
the castle and city walls by pulling down two-thirds of the
Cathedral nave, most of its cloisters and other ecclesiastical
buildings.
During the rebellion of 1745 Carlisle surrendered to Prince
Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie). He entered the City
with his army preceded by the famous "one hundred pipers and a’
"however by the year end Carlisle was retaken for England by the
Duke of Cumberland. The City’s Gallows Hill saw the hanging of some
of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s supporters and one Scottish prisoner,
before his death, is reputed to have written the beautiful and
world-famous ballad Loch Lomond in the castle’s dungeon.
Almost as soon as the battle cries of 1745 had died away
industrial development sprang into being. The 19th Century saw the
expansion of railways with Carlisle becoming the northern terminal
of the English railway system. Seven different railway company
lines converged on Carlisle. The growing industry focused on rail
and road transport, manufacturing of vehicles, agricultural
machinery, cranes, biscuits, metal boxes, textiles including
furnishing and dress fabrics and sweets.
_m.jpg "Carlisle Aerial shot (photo: pictureU)")
Today Carlisle –
the Great Border City – is the Gateway to Scotland being less than
100 miles from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is the regional
shopping centre for Cumbria and the Scottish Borders and is well
placed as a tourism base being close to the Lake District,
Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, the Scottish Border Country
particularly unspoilt Liddlesdale and the North Pennines Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty.
For more information see:-