Carlisle city walls

Last updated September 16, 2019

Carlisle city walls were a defensive structure surrounding the centre of Carlisle, Cumbria. The city walls ran from Carlisle Castle in the north-west of the city to The Citadel in the south-east. Between these points, the city was protected by the former North and East Walls (demolished around 1811) and the West Walls which remain largely intact. The line of the walls can still be followed with the exception of the southernmost end of the West Wall which has been built over. The perimeter, including the castle, is approximately 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) which is comparable to Southampton town walls but less than Chester city walls.

Carlisle Castle is situated in Carlisle, in the English county of Cumbria, near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. The castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it has been the centre of many wars and invasions. Today the castle is managed by English Heritage and is open to the public. The castle until recently was the administrative headquarters of the former King's Own Royal Border Regiment now county headquarters to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and a museum to the regiment is within the castle walls.

Carlisle Citadel or The Citadel is a former medieval fortress on English Street in Carlisle, Cumbria. It comprises two towers, both of which are Grade I listed buildings: the Nisi Prius Courthouse and the former Crown Court.

Southampton's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town in southern England. Although earlier Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlements around Southampton had been fortified with walls or ditches, the later walls originate with the move of the town to the current site in the 10th century. This new town was defended by banks, ditches and the natural curve of the river and coastline. The Normans built a castle in Southampton but made no attempts to improve the wider defences of the town until the early 13th century, when Southampton's growing prosperity as a trading centre and conflict with France encouraged the construction of a number of gatehouses and stone walls to the north and east sides of the settlement.

Construction

The Roman city of Carlisle was walled but the mediaeval walls were built to replace timber structures in the latter half of the twelfth-century.^[1] The North Walls ran roughly east-southeastwards from the castle to Scotchgate and then on to Philipson's Tower. Here it turned roughly south to The Citadel.^[1] The Citadel was built as a gate by Stefan von Haschenperg in the 1540s to replace an earlier structure.^[2] It was later blocked and access to the city from the south was diverted around it through a new gate, Englishgate, built between The Citadel and Collier's Gate.

Luguvalium was a Roman town in northern Britain in antiquity. It was located within present-day Carlisle, Cumbria, and may have been the capital of the 4th-century province of Valentia.

Stefan von Haschenperg was a military engineer employed by Henry VIII of England in the 1540s.

Demolition

The walls fell into disrepair at various times. A 1684 survey reported that The Citadel had been almost destroyed by the Scots.^[3] By the end of the eighteenth-century, the need for easier access for traffic and the need for better ventilation of the crowded city led to demands for the walls' demolition and an Act of Parliament was passed in 1807.^[4] The stone was used to redevelop The Citadel as a court building and in the construction of a new Eden Bridge to the north of the city. Both these projects involved Thomas Telford and Robert Smirke.^[5]^[6]

The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales.

Thomas Telford Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and road, bridge and canal builder. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels. Such was his reputation as a prolific designer of highways and related bridges, he was dubbed The Colossus of Roads, and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death.

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More recent changes

The West Walls are still needed to retain a former river cliff on the River Caldew and were not demolished. They have however been considerably altered over the years. Comparisons between old engravings and current archaeological evidence suggest the wall has been straightened.^[7] Between the bridge and the castle, there were houses built up against the walls until 1952.^[8] Other buildings erected against the walls have been largely removed so the walls are visible again. Remaining buildings have been listed because they incorporate wall fragments.^[9]

The River Caldew is a river running through Cumbria in England. Historically, the county watered by the Caldew was Cumberland.

Engraving practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it

Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing images on paper as prints or illustrations; these images are also called "engravings". Engraving is one of the oldest and most important techniques in printmaking. Wood engraving is a form of relief printing and is not covered in this article.

There are over 9000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the county of Cumbria, sub-divided by district.

Short lengths of the North and West Walls run south from the castle to a city centre bypass that separates the castle from the city centre. The construction of the bypass required the existing gap in the West Walls to be widened and the surviving fragment of the North Walls to be truncated further. The gap in the West Walls includes the site of Irishgate and this is commemorated by a modern footbridge.^[10]

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References

1 2 McCarthy, M. R.; Summerson, H.R.T.; Annis, R.G. (1990). Carlisle Castle: A Survey and Documentary History (English Heritage Archaeological Report) (PDF). English Heritage.
↑ McCarthy, M. R. (1980). "Excavations on the city defences, Carlisle". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 69–78.
↑ Ferguson, Chancellor (1895). "A survey of the City of Carlisle in 1684-5". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 172–193.
↑ Perriam, D.R. (1976). "The demolition of Carlisle city walls". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 184–198.
↑ Oliver, G.D. (1916). "The Citadel, Carlisle". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society.
↑ Macdonald, M.I.M. (1971). "The building of the new Eden bridge at Carlisle, 1801-1817". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 248–259.
↑ Jackson, David (2009). Report on an archaeological field evaluation at West Walls, Carlisle, Cumbria (PDF).
↑ "City Walls and Tile Tower, Carlisle, Cumbria". Historic England . Retrieved 15 September 2019.
↑ Historic England. "NY3956SE WEST WALLS 671-1/6/309 (West side) Nos.10-22 (Even) incorporating city walls (1297278)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 25 August 2015.
↑ "Many lives of the Irish Gate in Carlisle's West Walls". The Cumberland News . 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015.

Coordinates: 54°53′38″N2°56′20″W / 54.894°N 2.939°W / 54.894; -2.939

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[castle-1] 1 2 McCarthy, M. R.; Summerson, H.R.T.; Annis, R.G. (1990). Carlisle Castle: A Survey and Documentary History (English Heritage Archaeological Report) (PDF). English Heritage.

[2] McCarthy, M. R. (1980). "Excavations on the city defences, Carlisle". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 69–78.

[3] Ferguson, Chancellor (1895). "A survey of the City of Carlisle in 1684-5". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 172–193.

[4] Perriam, D.R. (1976). "The demolition of Carlisle city walls". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 184–198.

[5] Oliver, G.D. (1916). "The Citadel, Carlisle". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society.

[6] Macdonald, M.I.M. (1971). "The building of the new Eden bridge at Carlisle, 1801-1817". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: 248–259.

[7] Jackson, David (2009). Report on an archaeological field evaluation at West Walls, Carlisle, Cumbria (PDF).

[8] "City Walls and Tile Tower, Carlisle, Cumbria". Historic England . Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[9] Historic England. "NY3956SE WEST WALLS 671-1/6/309 (West side) Nos.10-22 (Even) incorporating city walls (1297278)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 25 August 2015.

[10] "Many lives of the Irish Gate in Carlisle's West Walls". The Cumberland News . 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015.