The Source

History

The second music venue in this directory, and the one nobody outside Carlisle has heard of. It is upstairs at Atlas Works on Nelson Street, in an old mill building in Denton Holme, and it holds 180.

It began as the Source Arts Cafe and has been the Source Collective since coming under new management in 2021, when it grew from a cafe with gigs into a community arts and events hub. Live music, an art gallery, spoken word, open mic nights, jam sessions, and a bar with a reputation for cheap drinks and a big PA.

It matters because of what it is not. The Brickyard on Fisher Street is Carlisle's established venue, on the touring circuit between Newcastle and Glasgow, and it takes 320. The Source is half that and takes the bands nobody is routing through yet: local acts, first tours, sludge metal and punk on the same bill as spoken word. Every city needs both and most have lost the smaller one.

Denton Holme has been losing its drinking places for a century, from the Denton Inn in 1927 to the Prince of Wales in 2004 and the Cumberland Wrestlers the same year. This is the one that arrived. It is in a mill, which in this district is the only building type there is.

Thursday to Saturday, eight until half one. Closed the rest of the week, and available for hire.