slopes gradually to the town, is
defended outside the wall by a wide moat 10 feet deep.

There are two divisions: the outer ward, and the inner ward. William
Rufus erected the keep, which was at first the only building on the
site, and this was enclosed by a wall on the north and east. A
triangular ward was thus formed, having its entrance at the south-east.
Carlisle was fortified in 1170, and the city walls were carried up to
the castle. At this time the first entrance was blocked up and the
present one made; the outer ward was also enclosed. The south wall, with
its flat buttresses, is partly Norman, and partly thirteenth-century
work; and this description generally applies to the north and west
walls.

About 50 yards from the south-west angle and on the city walls is King
Richard's Tower, a building of two storeys, where Richard III. is said
to have lived when at Carlisle. It is also called the Tile Tower because
of the thin bricks with which it was built. A subterranean passage
leading to the keep was discovered here early this century. Entrance to
the castle is gained by a bridge crossing the moat; this has replaced
the old drawbridge and leads to a gatehouse with battlements, a kind of
barbican, of two storeys. The passage is vaulted, and has massive doors
of oak studded with iron; formerly there was also a portcullis.

This leads to the outer ward which is about four times as large as the
inner ward. It is nearly square, and contains modern buildings for the
use of the garrison.

The two wards are divided by a strong stone wall 90 yards in length. A
wide ditch (now filled up) once ran in front. In the centre of this wall
is a building--the Captain's Tower--which gives access to the inner ward
through its gateway secured at each end with a strong door.

Some of the masonry of the Captain's Tower is Norman, but it is mostly
Decorated. A half-moon battery of three guns once defended the Tower and
commanded the outer ward, but it has now been removed.

[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CASTLE (TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH).]

The inner ward contains the great square keep, 66 feet by 61, where the
governor had his apartments, and which was the final resort of the
garrison when the place was entered by an enemy. The walls are 15 feet
in thickness, except on the east side, which is only 8 feet thick. The
building consists of a basement and three upper floors; the highest
floor is vaulted to sustain a platform for artillery.