[7] Due to its proximity to Scotland (being located eight miles or thirteen kilometres south of the current Anglo-Scottish border), Carlisle Castle and the city became an important military stronghold in the Middle Ages.

In the 19th century, the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution began a process of socioeconomic transformation in Carlisle, which developed into a densely populated mill town.

[12] According to Boethius and John of Fordun, writing in the 18th and 19th centuries, Carlisle existed before the arrival of the Romans in Britain and was one of the strongest British towns at the time.

[15] Excavations undertaken along Annetwell Street in the 1970s dated the Roman timber fort constructed at the site of present Carlisle Castle to the winter of AD 73.

In 685, St Cuthbert, visiting the Queen of Northumbria in her sister's monastery at Carlisle, was taken to see the city walls and a marvellously constructed Roman fountain.

The uncertainty of existence meant that communities or peoples kindred to each other sought security through their own strength and cunning, and they improved their livelihoods at their enemies' expense.

"[24] After the Pilgrimage of Grace, Henry VIII, concerned at the weakness of his hold on the North, employed (1539) the engineer Stefan von Haschenperg to modernise the defences of Carlisle.

In 1646, the Scots, now holding Carlisle pending payment of monies owed them by the English Parliament, improved its fortifications, destroying the cathedral's nave to obtain the stone to rebuild the castle.

[27] Although Carlisle continued to garrison soldiers, becoming the headquarters of the Border Regiment, the city's importance as a military town decreased as the industrial age took over.

[30] In the early 19th century textile mills, engineering works and food manufacturers built factories in the city mostly in the Denton Holme, Caldewgate and Wapping suburbs in the Caldew Valley.

[37] The area east of the market cross had formerly been occupied by narrow alleyways of housing and small shops (on a layout which had not changed much since medieval times) and referred to locally as The Lanes.

Carlisle has a compact historic centre with a castle, cathedral and semi-intact city walls, as well as other medieval buildings including the Guildhall and Tithe Barn.

They act as appropriate bodies in which historic rights and privileges of Carlisle, including the mayoralty will continue until a governance review will determine the need of a city council.

The district council covered a large rural area with many villages and towns including Dalston, Brampton, Longtown, Wetheral, Bewcastle and Scotby.

Nearby towns and villages include Longtown (north), Penrith (south), Brampton (east), Wigton (west), Haggbeck, Harker, Carwinley, Blackford, Houghton, Scotby, Wreay and Rockcliffe.

During this time, nearly 36 hours of incessant rainfall breached flood defences and left several areas submerged – including Bitts Park, Hardwicke Circus and Warwick Road.

Prime Minister David Cameron visited the city on 7 December 2015 to assess the damage, having earlier called an emergency Cobra meeting.

West of Caldewgate and north of Denton Holme the suburbs of Newtown, Morton, Sandsfield Park, Longsowerby, Raffles and Belle Vue developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

South of the city centre is the Botchergate/St Nicholas area of late Victorian terraced housing similar to that found in Denton Holme and Caldewgate.

(One such manufacturer located in the Denton Holme area was Ferguson Printers, a large textile printing factory that had stood for many years before its closure in the early 1990s).

Cowans Sheldon originated in the city in the mid 19th century and became one of the world's most important railway and marine engineering firms, manufacturing finally ceased in Carlisle in 1987.

As of 2014, ITV Border is again producing a full regional news service, along with two hours a week of current affairs and features programming, aimed specifically at southern Scotland.

In 1999, Carlisle United escaped relegation from the Football League on the final day of the season when on-loan goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored an injury time winner against Plymouth Argyle.

Former managers include Bill Shankly, Alan Ashman, Bob Stokoe, Harry Gregg, Mick Wadsworth, Nigel Pearson and Paul Simpson.

Creighton RUFC originally played near Cumberland Infirmary but sold its ground to housing development company Story Homes in 2004 in exchange for new facilities off Cumwhinton Road, near Junction 42 of the M6.

[80] During the Second World War the air raid warning organisation No 32 Group Carlisle Royal Observer Corps operated in the city centre controlled from RAF Kingstown.

The Royal Observer Corps was stood down and its parent organisation the UKWMO was disbanded in December 1995 after the end of the Cold War and as a result of recommendations in the governments Options for Change review of UK defence.

The foundations of the nuclear bunker can still be partially seen outlined in the concreted yard, which also contains the Air Training Corps hut during recent further development of the site.

In a 14th-century poem, legend has it that Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table, stayed at the Castle of Carlisle while on a hunting expedition in the haunted Inglewood Forest.

[86] In response to this, the city council considered removing the stone; however, Kevin Carlyon, the self-titled "high priest of the British white witches", proclaimed that such actions would give the curse more power.