The present height
is 68 feet. On a clear day a fine view can be had from the top,
embracing the mountains in the Lake district, the heights of
Northumberland, the Solway Firth, and the Scottish coast. Several cells
have been contrived in the eastern wall, in one of which Major McDonald
(Fergus McIvor) is said to have been lodged. Some of the cell walls
have been carved at various times with figures of men, birds, and
animals. These were, perhaps, executed with a nail. In the north wall is
the shaft of a well, 78 feet deep. This is supposed to be the well which
was shown to St. Cuthbert when he visited Carlisle. The dungeons are in
the ground floor, and of course are distinguished by a plentiful lack of
daylight and fresh air.

[Illustration: THE CASTLE. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]

Queen Mary's Tower, so called from having been the prison of Mary Queen
of Scots, was in the south-east angle of the inner ward. It was pulled
down in 1835, and a wall built round the angle. It was in part Norman
work of the time of William Rufus, and partly Early English; and had a
large rounded archway springing from capitals with zigzag decoration.
There was also a portcullis for its defence. A passage used by Queen
Mary to pass out to the Lady's Walk, which ran eastward from the
gatehouse, has been walled up.

The Long Hall, a fine structure about 100 feet by 40, in which the
Parliament of 1306-7 met, was also situated in this ward, but was
demolished with several other buildings, 1824-1835. At various times
the castle has undergone extensive repairs, notably in the reigns of
Richard III., Edward III., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth.

During the siege in 1644-5 it suffered much damage, and was patched up
by the Parliamentary troops. A hundred years later the Duke of
Cumberland thought very little of its powers of defence, for he
contemptuously called it "an old hen-coop."

Among the governors, several well-known men figure; for instance, Andrew
Harcla, the Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.), and Hotspur.
Upon the death of Lieutenant-General Ramsay in 1837 the office of
governor was abolished. The castle now furnishes barrack accommodation
for troops, and serves as a depot.

DIMENSIONS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL

Choir, Length 134 feet
Choir, Breadth 72 feet
Choir, Height 72 feet
Nave, Length 39 feet
Nave, Breadth 60 feet
Nave, Height 65 feet
Transep