CARLISLE, a city, municipal and parliamentary borough, and the county town of Cumberland, England, 299m. N.N.W. of London, and 8m. S. of the Scottish border. Pop. It lies on the south bank of the river Eden, a little below the point where it debouches upon the Solway plain, 8m. above its mouth in the Solway firth, at the junction of two tributaries from the south, the Caldew and the Petteril, which leave a small strip of land between them. The city grew up originally about two slight eminences on this peninsula, crowned respectively by cathedral and castle. To the north of the Eden lies the suburb of Stanwix. The rivers are not navigable, and a canal, opened in 1823, con necting the city with Port Carlisle on the Solway firth, was unsuc cessful and was replaced by a railway. Silloth, on the Irish sea, is the nearest port (21 miles). Carlisle is one of the principal railway centres in Great Britain, the chief lines being those of the L.M.S. and L.N.E. railways. Through connections with Scotland are maintained past the head of the Solway firth. The Romano-British Luguvallium occupied the site of the city. It lay a mile south of Hadrian's wall and seems to have been a town rather than a fort. Its position near the small ports on the Solway firth brought it much intercourse with Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Carlisle (Caer Luel, Karliol) is first mentioned in 685, when under the name of Luel it was bestowed by Ecgfrith on St. Cuth bert to form part of his see of Lindisfarne. It was then a thriving and populous city, and when St. Cuthbert visited it in 686 he was shown with pride the ancient walls and a Roman fountain. The saint was believed to have founded a convent and a school here. Nennius, writing in the 9th century, mentions it in a list of British cities under the name of Caer Luadiit, Caer Ligualid or Caer Lualid, but about this time it was destroyed by the Danes, and vanishes completely from history until in 1092 it was re-established as the political centre of the district by William Rufus, who built the castle. During the centuries of border-strife which followed, the history of Carlisle centres round that of the castle, which formed the chief bulwark against the Scots on the western border, and played an important part in the history of the country down to the rebellion of the Young Pretender in 1745. At the time of the Scottish wars two parliaments were held at Carlisle, in 1300 and in 1307. A charter from Edward I., dated 1293, exemplifies two earlier grants. The first, from Henry II., confirmed the liberties and customs which the city had theretofore enjoyed, granting in addition a free gild merchant, with other privileges. This grant is exemplified in the second charter, from Henry III., dated 1251. A charter from Edward II., dated 1316, grants to the citizens the city, the king's mills in the city, and the fishery in the Eden. A charter from Edward III. in 1352 enumerates the privileges and liberties hitherto enjoyed by the citizens, including a market twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday ; a fair for 16 days at the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (Aug. 15) ; free election of a mayor, bailiffs and two coroners; and the right to hold their markets in the place called "Battailholm." It also mentions that the city was greatly impoverished by reason of the devastations of the Scots and by pestilence. Confirmations of former privileges were issued by Richard II., Henry IV., Henry VI. and later sov ereigns. Although the city had been under the jurisdiction of a mayor and bailiffs at least as early as 1290, the first charter of incorporation was granted by Elizabeth in 1566. A charter of James I. confirmed former liberties, and in 1638 Charles I. granted a charter under which the town continued to be governed until 1835. It declared Carlisle a city by itself.
The Cathedral.—Bede named a monastery which seems to have had close connections with Irish and Scottish Churches until its destruction by the Danes. William Rufus is given the credit for its rehabilitation. The bishopric of Carlisle was created by Henry I., in 1133, out of the house of Augustinian canons, founded in I IO2. This was the sole episcopal chapter of regular canons of St. Augustine in England. It was dissolved in 1540. Between 1156 and 1204 the bishop's throne was unoccupied, but thereafter there was a continuous succession. The diocese covers the whole of Westmorland, and practically of Cumberland, with Furness and the adjacent district in the north of Lancashire. The cathe dral, a fine cruciform building with a central tower, is incomplete. Of the Norman nave, built by Aethelwold, the first prior and bishop, only two bays are standing, the remainder having been destroyed by the Parliamentarians in 1646. The south transept, and the lower part of the tower piers, are also of the period. Remarkable distortion is seen in the nave arches, owing to the sinking of the foundations. The thinness of the aisle walls, and the rude masonry of the foundations of the original apse which have been discovered, point to native, not Norman, workmanship. The choir is ornate and beautiful, and the huge decorated east window, with its elaborate tracery, is perhaps the finest of its kind extant. The reconstruction of the Norman choir was begun in the middle of the 13th century, but the work was almost wholly destroyed by fire in 1292. The north transept and the tower also suffered. Building began again c. 1352, and the present tower, erected with some difficulty on the weak foundations of the Nor man period, dates from 1400-19. The conventual buildings are scanty, including little more than a perpendicular gateway and refectory.
The moated castle, now used as barracks, has been so far altered that only the keep is of special interest. Fragments of the old city walls are seen on the western side over against the river Caldew. Notable public buildings are the city hall, the court houses, museum and art gallery. The grammar-school, of very early foundation, received endowment from Henry VIII. Much valuable information relating to the early history and customs of Carlisle is furnished both by the Dormont Book, which contains an elaborate set of bye-laws dated 1561, and by the records of the eight craft gilds—weavers, smiths, tailors, tanners, shoemakers, skinners, butchers and merchants. The constant wars until the union of the Crowns of England and Scotland impeded commerce; and Fuller, writing in the Ilth century, says that the sole manu facture was that of fustian. In 1750 the manufacture of coarse linen cloth was established, and was followed in a few years by the introduction of calico stamperies. The commercial prosperity of Carlisle, however, began with the railway development of the 19th century. The main industries are those connected with trans port and the production of textiles. Metal and wood working are also carried on. The parliamentary borough returns one member. Area of municipal borough, 4,488 acres.
See Victoria County History, Cumberland; R. S. Ferguson, Some Municipal Records of the City of Carlisle (Cumberland and Westm. Antiq. and Archaeol. Soc., Carlisle and London, 1887), and Royal Charters of Carlisle (1894) ; Mandell Creighton, Carlisle in "Historic Towns" series (London, 1889).