Anachronistic Hearts

Carlisle Castle is situated in Carlisle, in the English county of Cumbria, near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. The castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it has been the center of many wars and invasions. Today the castle is owned by Edward Howard Frayne, 9th Earl of Carlisle.

The castle until recently was the administrative headquarters of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot, an infantry regiment, formed in 1702, and now the 34th accompanies the Queen’s 88th Artillery Regiment within the castle walls. The 88th is responsible for northern England, and southern Scotland’s campaign against air piracy (Note: large amount of private bouts occur in aerospace between foreign powers, air pirates, warring merchants, clans, and more. This is because there are places in aerospace not heavily guarded and policed, and others with an "understanding" between one power or another that is easy to violate with the right amount of influence. It is also not uncommon for minorities such as gypsy clans to do battles for rites of passage, women, or territory in the air.)

Carlisle Castle was first built during the reign of William II of England, the son of William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066. At that time, Cumberland (the original name for north and west Cumbria) was still considered a part of Scotland. William II arrived and drove the Scots out of Cumberland to claim the area for England. He ordered the construction of a Norman style mote and bailey castle in Carlisle on the site of an old Roman fort, with construction beginning in 1093. The need for a castle in Carlisle was to keep the northern border of England secured against the threat of invasion from Scotland. In 1122, Henry I of England ordered a stone castle to be constructed on the site. Thus a keep and city walls were constructed.

The act of driving out the Scots from Cumberland led to many attempts to retake the lands. The result of this was that Carlisle and its castle would change hands many times for the next 700 years. The first attempt began during the troubled reign of Stephen of England. The Scottish King, David captured the city, exploiting the domestic troubles of England. It was he who completed the walls and stone keep. However the English seized back the city and castle several years later.

From the mid-13th century until the unification of England and Scotland in 1603, Carlisle castle was the vital headquarters of the Western March, a buffer zone to protect the western portion of the Anglo-Scottish border.

Henry VIII converted the castle for artillery, employing the engineer Stefan von Haschenperg. For a few months in 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned within the castle, in the southeast corner which has since been demolished. Later, the castle was besieged by the Parliamentary forces for eight months in 1644, during the English Civil War.

The most important battles for the city of Carlisle and its castle were during the second Jacobite rising against George II of Great Britain in 1745. The forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart travelled south from Scotland into England reaching as far south as Derby. Carlisle and the castle were seized and fortified by the Jacobites. However they were driven north by the forces of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the son of George II. Carlisle was recaptured, and the Jacobites were jailed and executed. That battle marked the end of the castle's fighting life, as defending the border between England and Scotland was not necessary with both countries again one in Great Britain.

In 1831, the 34th regiment of Foot and the Queen’s 88th Artillery Regiment relocated to northern and eastern Scotland, and the castle reverted to private ownership of the Frayne family, the true Earls of Carlisle.