Although the district boundaries dated to the 20th century, the city traces its origins to a 1st-century Roman outpost associated with Hadrian's Wall. The Brythonic settlement that expanded from this outpost was destroyed by the Danes in 875. Thereafter the region formed part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, until colonised under King William II of England in 1092. William II built Carlisle Castle, which houses a military museum. Carlisle Cathedral, founded in the 12th century, is one of the smallest in England.
From 1 April 2023 the "City of Carlisle" was redefined to cover the following wards: Belah and Kingmoor, Botcherby and Harraby North, Cathedral and Castle, Currock and Upperby, Denton Holme and Morton South, Harraby South and Parklands, Newtown and Morton North, Sandsfield and Morton West and Stanwix and Houghton.
Charter Trustees were formed from the councillors that cover the said areas; 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 Town Council.[citation needed]
After the exploration of reform during the mid-20th century such as the proposals made by the Redcliffe-Maud Report in the late 1960s, the Local Government Act 1972 restructured local government in England by creating a system of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts throughout the country.[8] The act formally established the City of Carlisle as a local government district of the new shire county of Cumbria on 1 April 1974. The new dual local authorities of Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council had been running since elections in 1973 however.[9] The leading article in The Times on the day the Local Government Act came into effect claimed that the "new arrangement is a compromise which seeks to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively".[10]
In 1974, Carlisle City Council was created to administer the newly formed non-metropolitan district, which shared power with the strategic Cumbria County Council. The council offices were in Carlisle, at the Civic Centre. The Labour Party controlled the council for much of the first 25 years and from 1979 to the 1999 election had an overall majority.[11] Until 2003 the Conservative Party then controlled the council with a majority, and from the 2003 elections they ran the council with no majority, but in alliance with the Liberal Democrats.[4] At the 2012 election Labour gained a majority of the seats, which they held until the 2019 local election when the Conservative Party retook the council with the backing of the one Liberal Democrat, one UKIP councillor, and an Independent.[12] In May 2021, three city council by-elections took place, triggered by the departure of three Labour councillors, that resulted in two Conservative gains from Labour.[13]
In November 2021, the former chair of the Labour Party, Jo Ellis-Williams, joined the Conservatives to give overall control of the council to the Conservative Party.[14]
There were 39 councillors representing the electoral wards of the City of Carlisle district. Together they formed the Carlisle City Council. Councillors were elected and accountable to the residents of their wards.
Civil parishes form the bottom tier of local government in England; parish councils are consulted on planning applications and commonly manage some local services, such as allotments, burial grounds, bus shelters, car parks, and commons.[18] The City of Carlisle district was almost entirely parished, the exception being the central settlement of Carlisle—an unparished area. As of 2008, there were 36 civil parishes in the district, covered by 34 parish councils, which are:[19]
The coat of arms of Carlisle City Council were those granted to the city council of the County Borough of Carlisle by the College of Arms on 7 July 1924. These arms were derived from more ancient designs of or relating to Carlisle and its governance.[20]
The city council's coat of arms were emblematic of the city's history. The arms incorporated a golden shield with a red cross, upon a green mount, surmounted by a mural crown, relating to Carlisle's history as an ancient walled city. This was supported by two red wyverns—legendary dragons used in heraldry—their wings strewn with golden roses, with reference to the city's Brythonic history. The motto beneath the arms came from Thomas Wolsey's speech to Thomas Cromwell, in Shakespeare's play, Henry VIII:[20]Be just and fear not.
The City of Carlisle district was at the extreme north of North West England. It encompassed Cumbria's county town, Carlisle, and its surrounding rural hinterland,[21] which together totalled 1,039.97 square kilometres (402 sq mi),[3] making the district the largest in England by area. Although 70% of the district's 100,750 people lived in central Carlisle, 98% of the district's land use was rural.[21] The district was traversed by several major rivers, including the Caldew, Eden, and Petteril, and was bisected by the M6, A74(M) motorways.[22]
Much of the district spanned the flood plain of the River Eden resulting in large parts of the district being vulnerable to flooding.[23][24] Two further tributaries, the Petteril and Caldew nearly surround the historic walled centre.
At the 2011 UK census, the City of Carlisle district had a total population of 107,524.[28] 46.8% of the residents over the age of 16 were married or in a registered same-sex civil partnership, 11.9% were co-habiting couples, and 41.2% were not living in a couple.
In 1841, 15.7% of Carlisle's population was middle class compared to 14% in England and Wales; this increased to 18.9% in 1931 (15% nationally) and 35.7% in 2001 (48% nationally). Carlisle's proportion of working-class people increased slowly from 1841 to 1931, changing from 33.0% to 37.9 while the national average changed from 37% to 36% in the same period. Since 1931 it has fallen and risen again to 34.0% in 2001 (26% nationally). The rest of the population was made up of clerical workers and skilled manual workers.[29][30]
Population change
The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the City of Carlisle has existed as a district since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the city.
At the 2011 UK census, 69.1% of Carlisle's residents reported themselves as Christian, 22.9% had no religion and 6.8% did not state any religion. Other religions were represented with 0.4% of residents Muslim, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu and 0.3% had an alternative religion.[28] The district was covered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster,[33] and the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle.[34]
At the United Kingdom Census 2001, Carlisle had 73,431 residents aged 16 to 74. Of these people, 2.4% were students with jobs, 3.1% students without jobs, 4.9% looking after home or family, 6.1% permanently sick or disabled and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons.[35]
In 2001, of 46,858 residents of the City of Carlisle district in employment, the industry of employment was 20.4% retail and wholesale, 15.9% manufacturing, 11.1% health and social work, 8.1% property and business services, 7.7% transport and communications, 7.3% construction, 6.4% education, 5.9% hotels and restaurants, 5.8% public administration and defence, 3.1% agriculture, 2.3% finance, 0.7% energy and water supply, 0.3% mining, and 4.5% other. This was roughly in line with national figures, although the proportion of jobs in agriculture which was more than the national average of 1.5% and the percentage of people working in finance was less than half the national average of 4.8%; the proportion of people working in property was also below the national average of 13.2%.[37]
^ ab"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Cumbria County Council Census key statistics summary
^Cumbria Association of Local Councils (2 September 2008), Parishes in Carlisle, calc.org.uk, archived from the original on 12 August 2009, retrieved 24 June 2009
Andrew, Bennett (2004), Homelessness: Written Evidence: House of Commons Papers 2003–04 1116-Ii, vol. 2, Great Britain: The Stationery Office, ISBN978-0-215-01969-1
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