A TIMELINE OF CARLISLE HISTORY
By Tim Lambert
78 AD The Romans build a fort at Carlisle. Soon a civilian settlement grows up nearby.
399 Roman soldiers leave Hadrians Wall. Soon afterwards Carlisle is abandoned.
685 St Cuthbert builds a monastery among the ruins of Carlisle
876 The Vikings sack Carlisle
10th Century The English recapture Carlisle
1092 William Rufus rebuilds Carlisle
12th century Stone walls are built around Carlisle
1122 A priory is built in Carlisle
1133 Carlisle is made the seat of a bishop
1135-1154 The Scots capture Carlisle
1158 Carlisle is given a charter
1223 The friars arrive in Carlisle
1292 Carlisle is badly damaged by a fire
1315 The Scots again besiege Carlisle but they are unable to capture it
1349 The Black Death devastates Carlisle
1541 Henry VIII closes the priory and the two monasteries
1597 Plague strikes Carlisle
1600 The population of Carlisle is about 2,500
October 1644 The Roundheads lay siege to Carlisle
June 1645 The Roundheads capture Carlisle
1682 Carlisle Cross is erected
1689 Tullie House is built
1745 The Jacobites capture Carlisle
1750 Carlisle has a population of about 4,000
1758 A turnpike road is built to Newcastle
1778 St Cuthbert's Church is built
1787 The first bank in Carlisle opens
1798 Carlisle gains its first newspaper
1801 The population of Carlisle is 9,555
1804 The streets of Carlisle are lit by oil lamps
1813 Carlisle gains its first theatre
1819 The streets of Carlisle are lit by gas.
1832 Cholera strikes Carlisle
1838 Railway connects Carlisle to Newcastle
1841 Carlisle gains an infirmary
1848 Cholera strikes again. Carlisle gains a piped water supply.
1851 The population of Carlisle is over 25,000
1885 The first telephone exchange in Carlisle opens
1889 The covered market is built
1893 The Bitts opens
1899 Carlisle gains an electricity supply
1900 Electric trams begin running in Carlisle
1901 The population of Carlisle is 45,000.
1912 The first boundaries of Carlisle are extended to include Stanwix and Botcherby
1964 Carlisle Civic Offices are built
1973 Radio Cumbria begins broadcasting
1974 A ring road is built around Carlisle
1986 A new library opens
1989 Carlisle city centre is pedestrianised
2005 Carlisle suffers severe floods