8 May 2014

Local History Month #BEDM

Hello Lovelies!

I thought that for today's prompt (Local History Month) it would be nice for you to see more of the city where I live! The plan was to go out and take photos myself, however Zoe and I have both been ill this week, so I hope that these photos are OK!

I love living in a city that has such a fantastic history. When I worked in the town centre, I used to walk past the castle and the cathedral on my way to work - and I loved it! There are secret passages underneath the city, beautiful architecture, fantastic places to eat and drink, and all on the doorstep of the Lake District!

Would you like a bit of history about Carlisle? Here you go! (I have adapted this from Discover Carlisle):

Carlisle has such a varied and colourful city. It began its life in the Iron Age when the Brigantes ruled over much of northern England. The Carvetti (a sub-tribe of the Brigantes) occupied the Eden Valley and probably regarded Carlisle as a place of some importance, as the name is linked to the Celtic god, Lugh. This evolved into ‘Caer Luel' and then to the modern name of ‘Carlisle'.

The Romans built a fort in AD72 near where the castle is now and named it Luguvalium after Lugh. Carlisle became an important settlement behind Hadrian's Wall, a 78-mile long stretch of continuous wall between Wallsend and Bowness-on-Solway, completed in AD 122.
The Romans in Carlisle meant that a town developed along with the fort, and the remains of shops and houses have been excavated as well as other Roman remains at various places in the city. With increasing prosperity, the settlement at Luguvalium became a civitas (an important administrative and economic centre).


THe Romans left in about 400AD, but Luguvalium survived as a town and may have been a territorial base within the British kingdom of Rheged. St Cuthbert is thought to have founded a monastery during his visit (said to lie in the vicinity of St Cuthbert's church).
When the Normans conquered England in 1066, Carlisle was under Scottish rule and does not appear in the Domesday Book, but in 1092 William Rufus (son of William the Conqueror) came north and ‘drove out Dolfin' from Carlisle. Dolfin was probably a vassal of the king of Scotland.

William strengthened the defences of the city by building castle on the site of the Roman fort. Between 1122 and 1200, the city walls were erected, pierced by three gates (Scotch Gate, Irish Gate and English Gate) and defended by six towers. 
On the instructions of Henry VIII, Carlisle's defences were strengthened by the rebuilding of the Citadel in 1541 by Stefan von Haschenperg (who also added the half-moon battery to Carlisle Castle).


source: panoramio.com

Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, took Carlisle in 1745 then headed south towards London to claim the British throne. A month later he was back, pursued by the Duke of Cumberland's army. Carlisle was quickly retaken by the Duke  and many Jacobite soldiers were imprisoned in the castle's dungeons, where their ‘licking stones' can still be seen.
The boom in textile manufacturing meant that the population of Carlisle boomed from the 1750s onwards. There were seven different railway companies converging on Carlisle and so the Citadel Station was built in 1847. By the end of the Victorian period, Carlisle emerges as a prosperous centre with a strong manufacturing base.
I hope you enjoyed today's history lesson! What do you love about your home town?

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2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear you've both been ill; I hope you're feeling better! I count Lewes as my home town (it's where I've lived for the past 3.5 years). I love that some of the streets are cobbled, the majority of houses are architectural gems, there are tiny, secret(ish) twitterns (aka alleys) running all over the place, and on Bonfire Night it turns into a post-Apocalyptic world of terrifyingly close fireworks and glow-in-the-dark facepaint. xxx

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  2. We are really lucky to live in a city with so much history aren't we?! I walk up Abbey street and through the cathedral to get to work every day so I pass the castle in the morning and it's such a nice sight on a bright sunny day!

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