Maryport part II

(Set against Senhouse Museum in the background)


Poignant lines of an inscription dedicated to the twelve year old girl, Julia Martina.

A recreated watch tower at Senhouse Museum...from where you get some good views of...

...houses and cows...very bucolic......There are also some fantastic views of Scotland on the other side of the water from here.
(Rather surprisingly I discovered that Fletcher Christian of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame - Maryport was his old stomping ground. He was born in a village called Dearham close by to Maryport. There is a "Christian Street" in the town. His paternal grandparents were John Christian and Bridget Senhouse (one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the town). In the aquarium at Maryport in the Fletcher Christian shipwreck section there is a flying Pitcairn fish carved out of the prow of the Bounty by one of his descendants (if this is to be believed)!

The Senhouse Museum at Maryport

Maryport (known to the Romans as Alauna), a pretty interesting place. I'd been meaning to visit it for a long while. It seems lost in time but also has a spanking new marina. It is home to a very interesting aquarium and lots of Roman history. It is not actually on "the Wall" but the fort at Maryport was one of the largest on the frontier at 2.3 hectares. It was probably built in Hadrian's rule for the First Cohort of Spaniards. The Senhouse Museum at Maryport contains one of the oldest private collections in Britain which was started in 1599. It is has the largest number of Roman military altar stones and inscriptions in one place.

Map showing the extent of Hadrian's Wall at Senhouse Museum.

The view of the Museum from the air and you can clearly see the outlines of the fort beside it.

Altars dedicated to the First Cohort of Spaniards.

Statue of Hadrian.