Dramatically sited on cliffs overlooking the
Solway Firth, this award winning museum is next to a Roman fort probably
founded in the first century AD and rebuilt during the reign of the emperor Hadrian.
Most of the objects in the Museum derive from the
fort at Maryport and the Roman civil settlement attached to it. The museum displays the largest group of Roman
military altar stones and inscriptions from any site in Britain and
unique examples of Romano-British religious sculpture.
The collection, which was begun by the Senhouse
family in the 1570s, is the oldest in the country, and is of
international importance.
In the
Museum grounds, you can climb the observation tower for a clear view of
the full extent of the site, which recent geophysical survey has
revealed to have been one of the largest and best preserved in the
north.
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