Carlisle Castle

In the civil parish of Carlisle.
In the historic county of Cumberland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

The upstanding and buried remains of Carlisle medieval tower keep castle. The castle was founded by William Rufus in 1092, with much building work during C12. The Keep was probably built between 1136 and 1153. The main gate was rebuilt circa 1380, the tile Tower built in 1483 and the inner gatehouse built in the mid C14. Constantly used, attacked numerous times and changed hands between England and Scotland on several occassions. C12 square keep altered to take cannon on roof but remains imposing. Although much repair and altered basical intact castle.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 386571, 386583, 386586)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY39695622

PastScape number; 10679, 1087898, 1087803, 1087948, 1087667, 1087917

Web site links

http://www.visitcumbria.com/car/carlcas.htm
http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/carlisle%20castle.htm
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/85/carlislecastle.htm
http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/wallnet/bird/t-bastle.htm
http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_carlisle.htm
http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/carlisle/carlisle.php#castle
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.143
http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/carlislecastle.html

Books

Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS)
Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p30-6
Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p199
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p36-9 [plan]
Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p64-7
McCarthy, M.R., Summerson, H.R.T. and Annis, R.G., 1990, Carlisle Castle: a survey and documentary history (English Heritage Archaeological reports No 18)
Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p38-39,41
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p83
Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works, Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p664-73
Clare, T., 1981, Archaeological Sites of the Lake District p52-7
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p202-3
Gilyard-Beer, R., 1977, ‘De Ireby’s Tower in Carlisle Castle' in Gilyard-Beer, R. et al (eds), Ancient Monuments and Their Interpretation: Essays Presented to A J Taylor (Phillimore) p191-210 [on outer gatehouse]
Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p55-60
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p132-4
Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p98-99
Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p595-600
Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p59-63
Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p95-110
Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p123
Evans, Herbert A., 1912, Castles of England and Wales (London) p130-41
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p297-302
Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p350-8 [reprint of 1874 article]
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p311-3
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p207
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p212
1847, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Cumberland (Mannix and Whellan)
Jefferson, 1838, History of Carlisle (Carlisle) esp p91-121
Lysons, D. and S., 1816, Magna Britannia Vol4 Cumberland p. cciii, 68-9 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=404]
Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p37
Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol1 p46-9

Journal Articles

1990 Feb, Fortress Vol4 p27-39
Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p312
King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
Kirby, 1954, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol54 p131-9 [history]
Martindale, 1919, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol19 p165-7
Martindale, 1918, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol18 p235-7
Martindale, 1914, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol14 p292-4
Ferguson, 1874-5, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol2 p56-95
Clark, 1874, The Builder Vol32 p169-71
1859, Gentlemans Magazine Vol7 pt2 p247-50

Guidebooks

1999, Carlisle Castle (English Heritage)
Platt, Colin and McCarthy, Mike, 1992, Carlisle Castle (English Heritage)
Charlton, J., 1985, Carlisle Castle, Cumbria (English Heritage)
Watson, G.P.H (description), Bradley, Geoffrey (history), 1937, Carlisle Castle, Cumberland (HMSO)

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

The Anglo-saxon Chronicle; Laud Chronicle AD1092

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities7.htm]
William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cumbeng.html#cumb21]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p94
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p52

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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Carlisle Castle

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY39695622

Sources of information, references and further reading