| Located at the western end of the Stanegate, | | | | as great a height as was practicable in the |
| the Roman roadway that crossed northern | | | | form of a tower and in it was built the |
| England, the Cumbrian city of Carlisle has | | | | castle keep, itself the living quarters, |
| long been valued for its strategic value. In | | | | etc.A single gateway breached the wall's |
| 1092, some 500 years after the Romans | | | | southern side, so visitors from the city |
| abandoned the post, the Normans established | | | | could enter the castle. All in all, Carlisle |
| themselves at the site, which had been in | | | | is an outstanding example of a |
| Scottish hands since 1068. Recognizing the | | | | stone-enclosure castle. As early as the 12th |
| potency of the location - Scotland is a mere | | | | century, Henry I began strengthening Carlisle |
| 10 miles away and the site stands on a bluff | | | | Castle in stone and enclosing the city with |
| overlooking the River Eden - Carlisle was | | | | masonry walls. He probably started work on |
| deemed the ideal place to erect a castle.In | | | | the castle's oldest surviving structure, the |
| the Middle Ages, Carlisle became a key | | | | Great Keep, in about 1122, but it was his |
| forward outpost for England's monarchs during | | | | successors who actually completed the massive |
| their long struggle against the Scots when | | | | stone rectangle. In its heyday the keep |
| the castle changed hands repeatedly from the | | | | stood over 65 feet high. During the 18th |
| 12th to the 18th century.. The Scottish King | | | | century Jacobite Rising - an abortive attempt |
| David I first took the castle in 1136, but | | | | to place Bonnie Prince Charlie on the British |
| lost it to Henry II. Alexander, King of the | | | | throne - a first floor chamber served as a |
| Scots, took it again in 1216 but lost it to | | | | prison. Jacobite prisoners licked the stones |
| Edward I of England who later staged his | | | | of their cells, which were reputedly a source |
| invasion of southern Scotland from the | | | | of moisture, to quench their thirst.Besides |
| castle. Bonnie Prince Charlie was the last | | | | the Great Keep, the inner guardhouse (known |
| Scot to successfully take the castle, in a | | | | as the Captain's Tower), remnants of the |
| six day battle, but soon thereafter lost it | | | | royal apartments and other domestic buildings |
| again to the Duke of Cumberland.Later, the | | | | survive from the medieval period. Queen |
| castle became a depot for arms and ammunition | | | | Mary'' Tower, named for its most famous |
| and a barracks for the military, which | | | | prisoner, Mary, Queen of Scots, dates to the |
| remained there throughout the Second World | | | | 14th century. It now holds the museum of the |
| War. Even though extensive modifications | | | | King's Own Royal Border Regiment.During the |
| over the centuries have transformed the | | | | 1540s, Henry VIII initiated the first of |
| original stronghold into a powerful artillery | | | | several major modernization projects to refit |
| fortress, the layout of the castle remains | | | | the castle for artillery. Over the course of |
| true to its medieval origins. A masonry | | | | the next 350 years, the ongoing presence of |
| cross-wall and ditch separate the site into | | | | the army and the castle's continued use as a |
| inner and outer baileys and a stone curtain | | | | military depot and armory forced further |
| wall frames the entire complex.A bailey is an | | | | alterations to the structure, as weapons |
| enclosed courtyard, typically surrounded by a | | | | technology evolved and the fortifications |
| wooden fence, earthen or stone wall and | | | | decayed.Today the castle no longer fears the |
| overlooked by the motte. A castle could have | | | | impact of battle and aging on its |
| more than one bailey, sometimes an inner | | | | battlements. The sturdy red walls, which |
| surrounded by a lesser wall and an outer | | | | starkly contrast with the green fields at |
| surrounded by a strong wall. The motte was a | | | | their base, stand as an everlasting reminder |
| mound built in the center of the bailey with | | | | of the turmoil that plagued the borderland |
| very thick walls (the last wall of defense), | | | | between England and Scotland. |