City Centre, Carlisle
The Market Hall Bar
New bar inside the Victorian Market Hall off Scotch Street, licensed in February 2026 and putting on live music.
- Today
- See opening hours
- Address
- Units 50-51, Market Hall, Scotch Street, Carlisle CA3 8RB
History
Opened 2026
- Licensed
- February 2026
- Building
- Market Hall, 1887-89, Grade II
- Architects
- Cawston and Graham
Carlisle's covered market was built in 1887-89 for the Corporation to designs by Arthur Cawston and Joseph Graham, with an iron and glass roof by Cowans, Sheldon and Company, the Carlisle engineers better known for their cranes. It was extended in 1900-01 and listed Grade II in 1987, and it is one of the few Victorian covered markets left in the country. It was also a concert hall in its time: Genesis, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, the Who and the Smiths all played here.
The hall is in the middle of its latest revival. The Bearmont group took the building on with plans for a food hall and performance space, and work on a food court with a shared seating area began in August 2025, paid for by the council as part of its city-centre regeneration. The hall has its own premises licence and has held events with alcohol under temporary notices since December 2025.
The Market Hall Bar is part of that, in units 50 and 51, and one of the newest on this site. Its licence came through in February 2026, and the local press reported first that it was opening and then that it was putting on live music.
It puts a bar back on a street that has lost plenty of pubs. The Globe, the Green Dragon and the Blue Bell Hotel were all on Scotch Street, and all are gone.
- Live music
Photographs
Opening hours
| Mon | Unknown |
| Tue | Unknown |
| Wed | Unknown |
| Thu | Unknown |
| Fri | Unknown |
| Sat | Unknown |
| Sun | Unknown |
The bar's own hours are not published. The hall itself opens Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm; evening events are advertised separately.
Hours are kept by hand and change without warning. Ring ahead if it matters.
More like this
Nearest to here
-
60 maway
-
90 maway
-
100 maway
-
120 maway
Lost on Scotch Street
- The Blue Bell Hotel gone 1973
- The Globe gone 1934
- Ismay's Vaults gone 1923
- The Old Bush Inn gone 1917
- The Lion and Lamb gone 1917
- The Three Cannons gone 1916
- Amos's Spirit Stores gone 1916
- The Grapes Hotel gone 1894
113 lost pubs stood within 400 m of here. See what used to be around it
Sources
- Cumberland Council licensing register: The Market Hall Bar, Units 50/51, PL718, February 2026
- Cumberland Council licensing register: The Market Hall, PLN011, and temporary event notices 2025-26
- In Cumbria: new Market Hall Bar to open in Carlisle's Market Hall
- Pubs Galore: Market Hall Bar, new bar in the rejuvenated Victorian market hall
- Historic England via British Listed Buildings: Carlisle Public Markets, Grade II, 26 August 1987
- Cumberland Council, 2025: work starts on the new food court at the Market Hall
- Wikipedia: Carlisle Market Hall
- The Market Hall Bar on Facebook
Open question
What we don't know yet
Who runs the Market Hall Bar, when exactly did it open in 2026, and does it keep evening hours beyond the hall's own 8am to 5pm?
If you know the answer, or where it might be found (an old photograph, a family story, a document), tell us and it goes into the history above.