Gents Mag 1839 part 1 p.517

Gents Mag 1839 part 1 p.517




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	Gentleman's Magazine 1839 part 1 p.517 preferred by Rickman even to the celebrated west window of York Minster. Apart from architecture, Hutchinson had a good talent for observation and description; and his account of Carlisle furnishes a striking example of the value which accrues even in less than half a century to minute and apparently trifling remarks, especially when they are made in a transition period of society - and what period, in this ever-changing world, is not more or less a period of transition? It is true, however, that in the present instance the change has been rapid; for in the course of half a century Carlisle, from being a dull and silent military garrison, quietly sleeping within its girdle of ramparts, has been converted into a strictly manufacturing town, throwing out its various arms of communication, and gathering in its vicinity a teeming and busy population. Mr. Hutchinson's details are somewhat long, and Mr. Jefferson has judiciously compressed them. In the following extracts we shall beat the field still more cursorily, as our only object will be to bring forward the more striking points of this picture: "Carlisle after this period (the period of the rebellion in 1745, when it was first occupied by the Pretender's adherents, and afterwards became the scene of the execution of many of them), continued to present the appearance of an important military garrison. Sentries were posted at every gate, besides those at the castle and the house of the governor. The gates were closed and locked every night with the usual military parade; and guns were fired morning and evening, when they were opened or shut. The draw-bridge at the outer gates of the castle was drawn up every night at ten o'clock, and thus all communication with the city was cut off. There were towers or turrets, at intervals, along the whole line of the city walls,and upon these cannon were placed and sentinels posted. The greater part of the soldiers and artillery-men who formed the garrison were quartered on the citizens. "At this time the trade of Carlisle was very limited, and a large part of it was transacted at two great annual fairs, at which numbers of persons attended from different parts of England and Scotland. Provisions and other necessary articles were very cheap, and the industry of the citizens provided them with wearing apparel of their own spinning. In consequence of the little trade carried on, there were at this time no public carriers from this city. Coals were brought in sacks on ponies, which were allowed to graze in Fisher street, which was then quite green with grass. "The office of Mayor was considered to be of no great consequence; he seldom appeared in public without some of the insignia of his office, and was generally attended by one of his serjeants. The citizens were industrious and hospitable, and a friendly and neighbourly intercourse pervaded the whole city. "The Market-place was disfigured and rendered incommodious by the Guard-house and the Shambles. The latter were private property, built of wood, and covered with slates of different kinds, which gave them an unsightly and grotesque appearance. At the north end of the shambles was a draw-well, over which was a building supported by pillars, called Carnaby's Folly. Adjoining this was the Fish-market. The Shambles and Folly were taken down about the year 1790; the (former) having been purchased, at a great price, by the corporation; the (latter*) was their own property. There were also two or three public draw-wells in Scotch-street. There were two stone bridges over the Eden, one of four, the other of nine arches. "The houses of the citizens bore no marks of taste, or even what would now be considered requisite for comfort. Most were built of wood and clay, in few instances exceeding one story in height, and generally covered with thatch. The gable-ends of many fronted the street, in the old style of domestic architecture, and presented long rows of porches at each door. The rooms were miserably lighted by the small windows, which were irregularly placed; and the strong outer doors were arched, and fastened together by wooden pins projecting from the surface. Those houses which were two stories high, had the upper rooms floored with oak, but without any ceiling beneath. They were not painted, either within or without. "The lanes and avenues, even the church road, were not paved; and in many places entirely covered with weeds and underwood. The streets, not often trod upon, were in many parts green with grass. The centre part or causeway, rose to considerable height. The fronts from the
	* We have altered these two words former and latter, having the authority of Hutchinson for doing so. Besides, our present author had just above stated that the shambles were private property. REV.

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	gazetteer links
	-- Carlisle
	-- Carnaby's Folly
	-- City Walls
	-- Shambles, The

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