During his 1173 invasion supporting the Great Revolt against Henry II, William the Lion besieged Carlisle Castle -- a key English border fortress. The castle held out against the Scots. This failure was part of a pattern: William could harry and devastate northern England but struggled to take its well-fortified castles. The inability to reduce major fortresses limited the permanent gains Scotland could make from her invasions and forced reliance on diplomacy rather than conquest.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Cumberland