Off The Beaten Path: Carlisle, England

Carlisle Cathedral

The original plan was to rent a car from York and take a leisurely day-and-a-half drive through the English lake country on our way north to Glasgow, Scotland. That meant we would need a place along the way to stay. Carlisle, England, just north of England’s Lake District National Park, was a logical choice. With a bit of research we found that Carlisle is the site of a cathedral and a historically significant castle. We ultimately decided we’d really rather not rent a car so opted for a train ride instead, but our plans to stop over in Carlisle had stuck.

Carlisle is, historically, an English frontier town. Just to the north is Scotland. In fact, Carlisle lies at the westerly end of Hadrian’s Wall, the line the Roman Empire drew across the British Isles as their northernmost border. Much of this town’s history is associated with this fact.

The Carlisle Cathedral is the second smallest cathedral in the UK (only the Oxford Cathedral is smaller). It is a splendid 800-year old church with ruins of an abbey and a surprisingly nice crypt museum housing the more valuable chalices and patens from the Diocese of Carlisle’s parish churches (they’re kept at the cathedral for safe keeping). The church is staffed with incredibly friendly volunteers who call the church their spiritual home.

Ruins of an Abbey Adjacent to the Carlisle Cathedral

The Carlisle Cathedral

The Carlisle Cathedral alone would make Carlisle worth a 1-day stopover for anyone heading north to Scotland, but there’s also a great castle to see there (assuming you’re into castles, and who isn’t?) Now castles in the UK and Ireland seem to be a dime a dozen, but the Carlisle Castle is not only wonderfully well-preserved but also a castle of historical significance, both because of its role in acting as the separator between England and Scotland, but also because it was here that Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned and ultimately beheaded.