Carlisle Castle

Carlisle Castle

Exterior (c) English Heritage

Standing strongly in the city it has dominated for nine centuries, Carlisle Castle was a constantly updated working fortress until well within living memory. Now its rich and varied visitor attractions reflect its long and eventful history.

Even before the medieval castle was begun, this site was an important Roman fortress. Today, the castle still plays a prominent role in Cumbria as one of its best loved landmarks.

The squat, frowning keep, begun during the 12th century by King Henry I of England and completed by King David I of Scotland, is both the oldest part of the castle and a reminder that Carlisle was a disputed frontier fortress, long commanding the especially turbulent western end of the Anglo-Scottish border. The keep houses displays about the castle's history, from medieval assaults via the exploits of Elizabethan Border Reivers to the Civil War siege and Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite Rising of 1745-6.

Carlisle was then the very last English fortress ever to suffer a siege: overwhelmed by Cumberland's Hanoverian army, its Jacobite garrison were imprisoned in the keep's dank basement, where visitors can see the legendary 'licking stones' which they supposedly licked for life-giving moisture. Equally famous are the strange and fantastic carvings on the keep's second floor, cut in about 1480. The Warden's Apartments in the castle's outer gatehouse have also been furnished as they appeared at about this date.

By the time Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here in 1567-8, Henry VIII's updating for heavy artillery had left its mark on Carlisle, including the keep's rounded 'shot-deflecting' battlements and the Half Moon Battery defending the Captain's Tower gateway. The castle's military history did not end after the Jacobite Rising: fear of a radical revolution made it a permanently occupied garrison from the 1820s, when the barrack blocks lining the outer ward were begun. Indeed the castle remained the headquarters of the Border Regiment until 1959, and the 300-year history of Cumbria's famous infantry regiment is vividly told here in the Cumbria's Military Museum. Free entry to the museum (tel 01228 532774, just one of the many attractions which make this famous fortress so well worth exploring, is included in the castle admission charge.

Opening Times:

April 2009 to March 2010	Opening Times	Opening Days
1 Apr-30 Sep	9.30am-5pm	Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun.
1 Oct-31 Mar	10am-4pm	Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun.
24-26 Dec and 1 Jan	Closed

How much does it cost?

Adult:

£4.50 until 31 Mar 2010 / £4.80 from 1 Apr 2010

Children:

£2.30 until 31 Mar 2010 / £2.40 from 1 Apr 2010

Concession:

£3.80 until 31 Mar 2010 / £4.10 from 1 Apr 2010

English Heritage Members:

Free - Join English Heritage

Other:

Guided tours (available at peak times at a small extra charge; groups please pre-book).

How do I get there?

Address:

Cumbria - CA3 8UR

Road Access:

In Carlisle city centre

Train Access:

Carlisle 1⁄2 mile

Bus Access:

From surrounding areas

Accommodation

Find a hotel near this property

Map Location:

Map of location

Cycle Routes:

Find the site on the National Cycle Network

Telephone:

01228 591922, Local Tourist Information: 01228 625600

What facilities are available?

Facilities Available:

Facilities Details:

Dogs on leads only in restricted areas.

Access:

Disabled access (except interiors).

Parking:

Disabled parking only, but sign-posted city centre car parks nearby.

What facilities are available for groups?

Group Discount:

15% discount for groups of 11 or more visitors paying together. Free entry for coach driver and tour leader.

Coach Parking Facilities:

As there is no coach parking on site, please drop off at the entrance and use town car park (pay & display).

Group Booking:

Contact the site for a Group Booking Form and for opening times and prices from 1 April 2010.

Average Length of Visit:

1 1/2 hours.

Guided Tours:

A Border Stronghold – 900 years of History
An introduction to 900 years of the castle’s history.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Horrid History Tour
All the horrible stories of life, death and survival in a medieval castle.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Dungeons and Ramparts Tour
How the castle was built and its devious defences.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

The Captive Mary, Queen of Scots Tour
Mary’s six-week captivity in the castle in 1596 following her flight from Scotland on the road to Fotheringhay.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

From Romans to Reivers Tour
From the Roman occupation of the site in AD72 to the turbulent times of the Tudors and the Border Reiver clans.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Edward I – Hammer of the Scots Tour
Edward’s visits to the castle and his parliaments in the Borderlands when Carlisle was the centre of the Kingdom. His death on the Solway in 1307.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Life in a Medieval Castle Tour
Tales of the seedier side of life in a castle. How people lived, what they eat, and how they dressed.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Bonnie Prince Charlie – the 1745 Uprising Tour
Stories about the capture of the city and castle in 1745/46 and the disastrous events that led to the battle of Culloden

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Ghosts and Ghastly Stories Tour
Scary stories of ghosts, of bones found in the Captain’s Tower and ghastly tales of Jacobite soldiers incarcerated in the dungeons.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

King David’s Castle Tour
David 1 of Scotland died in the castle in 1153 when Carlisle was part of the Kingdom of Scotland and the castle was one of his Royal Palaces. The son of a Saint who heralded a golden age for Scotland.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

The Siege of Carlisle Tour
Civil War 1644-45 Carlisle and the castle withstood a nine-month siege. The tour is based on the personal recollections of Issac Tullie (documents in the British Museum)

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Union of the Crowns Tour
Over 400 years ago Elizabeth I died leaving the throne to James VI of Scotland the son of Mary Queen of Scots.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

The Gunpowder Plot Tour
From the Tudors to the Stuarts and the Union of the Crowns. James I brush with death during the Gunpowder Plot over 400 years ago.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

A Special Low-Key Walking Tour
Our Traditional tour suitable for people with walking difficulties.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

The Border Reivers
The terrible times of the Anglo-Scottish Reiving clans. The daring escape from the castle by Kinmont Willie.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922

Flat Level Guided Tour
Tour for people with walking diffiulcties.

Duration: 1 hour

Minimum–maximum pax: 11 and over.

Advance booking required: Yes, 1 week.

Call for prices and to book: 01228 591922