Carlisle Castle

William II built the first castle here in 1092 on the site of a Roman fort at the western end of Hadrian's Wall, and the position on the disputed border meant it was besieged, taken and retaken more often than any other castle in Britain. Mary, Queen of Scots was held here in 1568. In a chamber of the keep, prisoners cut around two hundred carvings into the soft red sandstone: faces, beasts, heraldic devices and grotesques, made over centuries and now the best surviving set of medieval prisoner carving in England. A well in the keep and the licking stones, where prisoners are said to have taken moisture from the wall, are shown on the route. Cumbria's Museum of Military Life occupies part of the site, and the outer works were adapted for artillery in the sixteenth century.

What you actually see

• The prisoners' carvings - around two hundred cut into the keep's sandstone.
• The Norman keep - the core of a castle begun in 1092 on a Roman site.
• The artillery works - sixteenth-century adaptations for guns.
• The regimental museum - the county collection inside the walls.

When to go

April to October for full opening; winter hours are shorter and some areas close. The carvings are in a dim chamber and are easier to read with a torch, which staff sometimes provide.

Honest expectations

Much of the castle is a working military site and museum rather than a picturesque ruin, and the outer areas are plain. The carvings are faint and take patience to find. Access involves spiral stairs.

Nearby

Carlisle Cathedral is a short walk; Hadrian's Wall runs east from the city.