Carlisle Castle

The last two months I visited so many English Heritage sites and I would love to visit the rest, they all are their own interesting stories. Carlisle Castle is one of them.

Carlisle Castle was built with grey and red sandstone in the 12th century, with a big courtyard. The lady from the ticket office told us that there are a few buildings still in use, in the same area with the Military Museum.

On the right is the keep of the castle. Now it has 4 storeys and a roof platform. When it was built, most likely it had 3 storeys. Each floor is divided in two, but originally would have been a single room. On the 2nd floor there are some carvings that are called “prisoners’ carvings”.

Mary Queen of Scots was busy with her needlework.

The buildings that are still in use today.

The carvings I mentioned at the beginning at the post. They look beautiful and they have a lot of details. Imagines include a knight, a mermaid and animals. It was thought that the imagines were carved by prisoners, but recent research suggests that they may be the work of bored prison guards, probably dating from the 15th century.
I read on a sign that the man who made these had an artistic side, but it’s unlikely he was able to read and write.

The walls of the castles always look so thick and long lasting, but these were the cannon-balls used in sieges.

We also saw the Military Museum. There are plenty of interesting displays.

These Memorial Plaques were called “Widow’s Pennies” or “Death Pennies”. Over 1.35 million Plagues were made, all of them sent out to relatives of the soldier who died in a cardboard sleeve with a message from HM King George V. On the Plague only the name of the soldier was written, there was no rank, number or unit mentioned, as all were considered equal in death.

The entry fee is £6.40, free for members, and the ticket offers access to the Military Museum too.