Tuesday 18th August pm - Carlyle Castle

We had lunch at a French Bagette Shop and it was nice not to have chips served up with our filled rolls. Afterwards we headed for Carlyle Castle and as part of our English Heritage passes got in free. Some English castles evoke romantic images of knights and fair maidens but this is not one of those. It is nearly 900 years old and has been the scene of so many sieges throughout the ages and it has always been the home to soldiers and never converted into a stately home.

Probably most famous for the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots in May 1568 where she was housed in what is known as the Warden's Tower. The cost of her lavish life style at the castle was met by Queen Elizabeth I who paid £56 a week for commodities such as food and wine and for the bevy of servants that Mary had.

On the second floor there are in a short passage a large number of carvings that were done by prisoners and although some are little more than scratches others are truly skilfully carved.
We walked around the wall protecting the Castle from the outside where there originally was a moat.