Outer Bailey Half Moon Battery, Flanking Wall and Bridge

The Outer Bailey Half Moon Battery, flanking wall, and bridge at Carlisle Castle were built as an outwork for the Captain's Tower. Constructed in 1542 for Henry VIII by Stephen von Haschenperg, the battery features irregularly-coursed red and yellow squared sandstone and is designed in a half-moon shape. It is a single storey structure built into the inner moat, with its roof now at ground level. The sides have square splayed gun ports at regular intervals. Metal safety railings are present around steps on either side of the cobbled roof, which served as a former gun platform, providing access to the inner half-moon passage. The flanking wall, made of similar materials, acts as a retaining wall for the inner moat. At the southern end of this wall, a single-span segmental-arched bridge crosses the moat, with its parapet added in 1919. The moat was completely filled in 1827, and the upper parapet on the battery and walls was removed in 1833, leaving no visible remnants of these fortifications above ground until excavations took place from 1917 to 1919, although not to their full and original depth. For further details, see McCarthy et al (1990).