Carlisle is a cathedral city in Cumberland, located in the far North West of England around 10 miles from the border with Scotland. The largest settlement on or near the Anglo-Scottish border, it is nicknamed "the Great Border Metropolis". It lies on the River Eden, a little way upstream of where it flows into the Solway Firth. It is a major railway junction and the home of varied industries.
Carlisle was founded as a military post by the Romans in the late first century AD and named Luguvallium; a civilian settlement grew up around the fort and later became a tribal capital. Following the departure of the Romans it continued in existence as a city for a while as capital of an independent British kingdom.
In 1092 Carlisle Castle was established by William II to tighten his hold on Cumbria, which had only recently been acquired by the English Crown from the Scots. From then on until the Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland in 1603, Carlisle was vital to English defence of the western borders.
In 1745 it was captured by the rebel forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie thanks to the inability of loyal troops at Newcastle upon Tyne to cross the rough country separating the two places in time.
The mother of United States President Woodrow Wilson, Janet Woodrow, was born on Lowther Street, Carlisle in 1826.
At the outbreak of the First World War major armament factories were set up in the Carlisle-Gretna area (this was considered safe fron German naval bombardment or raiding). Worried about the safety implications of drunken munitions workers, the Government in 1916 nationalised all the pubs and breweries in the area; known as the State Management Scheme, this was only ended in 1971.
The population of Carlisle at the census of 2001 was 100,739.