Carlisle Citadel or The Citadel is a group of buildings on the site of a former early modern fortress on English Street in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

. It comprises two towers, both of which are Grade I

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

: the

Nisi Prius ''Nisi prius'' () (Latin: "unless before") is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for ...

Courthouse and the former Crown Court.

History

The citadel was commissioned by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

to replace the medieval Botcher's gate, which was a gateway through the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. The new facility, which was designed by

Stefan von Haschenperg Stefan von Haschenperg was a military engineer employed by Henry VIII of England in the 1540s. Career Very little is known of Stefan's career, however he was mentioned as a gentleman of Moravia, and subject of Bohemia, in a letter from the Rege ...

as a medieval fortress, was completed in 1541. It ceased to be a fortress and became a prison in 1611. The Eastern Tower was modified to designs by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...

and

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles. As architect to the Board of Works, he designed several major ...

and converted for use as a Nisi Prius Court (i.e. civil courts) in 1812. The Western Tower was completely rebuilt to designs by Thomas Telford and Sir Robert Smirke and converted for use as the Crown Court in 1822. The citadel continued to be used as the local facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the offices and meeting place for Cumberland County Council. After amalgamation with

Westmorland County Council Westmorland County Council was the county council of Westmorland in north west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was initially based at the Town Hall in Kendal and then, from 19 ...

in 1974,

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body respon ...

continued to use the facilities at the Citadel as offices. The County Council also occupied a series of Victorian houses on Portland Square, Brunswick Street and Alfred Street North in Carlisle as well as Lonsdale House in Lower Gaol Yard. The citadel ceased to function as a judicial facility after the new Crown and County Courts Complex in Earl Street was completed in 1992. It also ceased to function as a municipal facility when, as a cost-saving measure, the County Council moved to a single facility,

Cumbria House Cumbria House is a municipal building in the Botchergate area of Carlisle, England. It is the headquarters of Cumbria County Council. History Throughout much of the 20th century, the administration of Cumberland County Council, England, Cumberl ...

, in Botchergate in December 2016. The county council submitted proposals to the Government for funding to redevelop the Citadel area in April 2016 and published a plan to convert it into a campus for the

University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, establis ...

in May 2020.

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria Buildings and structures in Carlisle, Cumbria Defunct prisons in England County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1541