Carlisle is an English cathedral and historical fortress city located in the modern county of Cumbria, at the northern end of the Lake District and 10 miles from the Scottish border.

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Landmarks

Carlisle Cathedral - founded in 1112

Carlisle Castle , Carlisle city centre, admission adult £4, children £2, concession £3 - maintained by English Heritage, Carlisle Casle was first established in 1093 by the English king William II and has guarded the border area for 900 years.

Museums and Galleries

the Tullie House Museum , Castle Street, admission adults £5.20, concessions £3.60, child under 16 £2.60, family £14.50, children under 5 free - an excellent museum dedicated to all aspects of Border life and featuring great exhibits relating to Hadrian's Wall

Carlisle is a city in the far north-west of England, and is the largest urban area in Cumbria. It is part of the City of Carlisle local government district, and acts as the administrative centre for both the district and Cumbria. It is the traditional county town of Cumberland. The population of the urban area of Carlisle was 71,773 according to the 2001 census, with about 100,000 living in the wider district.

Name

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The Romans called their settlement on the site of today's city Luguvalium, as evidenced by Roman writing tablets recently excavated in the city and displayed at Tullie House Museum, bearing this name as the address. Luguvalium can be interpreted from Latin as "the place, or wall (stronghold ?) of Lugus" (a local deity). Around the 11th and 12th centuries, however, surviving documents show the place name spelt Caer (castle) Luel or Llewelyn. Luel, and its variants are Welsh personal names, and it has been proposed that this was always the basis of the local name, which had been preserved by the continuity of Welsh-speaking peoples in the area, from before the Roman imposition of a latinised version. The fact that Cumbria (from Cymru or similar roots) was briefly held by the Celtic kings of Strathclyde in the 9th century may have stimulated a revival of Welsh speaking and reinstatement of earlier Celtic place-names. The modern Welsh name for Carlisle is "Caerliwelydd".

History

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Carlisle has a compact, historic centre, including a castle, museum, cathedral, and semi-intact city walls. The former law courts or citadel towers which now serve as offices for Cumbria County Council are also of architectural interest.

Roman Carlisle

Around AD 72/73, a Roman timber fort was built at Carlisle. Following its demolition around AD 103 to 105, a second timber fort was built. In AD 165 this fort was replaced by a stone fort. It was probably later the civitas capital of the Carvetii tribe.

Later history
Because Carlisle was sometimes the last English town before the Scottish border, and sometimes the last Scottish town before the English border, in the days when the two countries were separate kingdoms, it developed importance as a military stronghold, and Carlisle Castle is still relatively intact. Built in 1092 by William Rufus, and having once served as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots.

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