A weather-beaten part of a Maryport landmark has been replaced thanks to the generosity of a local craftsman.

Stone carver Tony Crellin volunteered to create a new corbel at Maryport Maritime Museum which opens to the public this Summer in Christ Church on the harbourside. A corbel is a piece of stonework which projects from a wall and can be both structural and decorative.

The building’s exposed location means the sandstone structure has been battered by the weather over the last 150 years and this carving is one of two which had been eroded. Tony studied the one which had suffered the least damage and replicated its anchor-like design. The stone he used is a piece of St Bees red sandstone and was reclaimed from a 19th century West Cumbrian building.

Tony was born and grew up in Maryport and says he has always been fascinated by the town’s maritime history. He moved away for work in the 1980s after completing an environmental degree, forging a career in countryside management and environmental regeneration. He’s also enthusiastic about restoring properties in West Cumbria, originally learning stone carving as a hobby but now using it in his work. He spotted the wear and tear on the Christ Church corbel and volunteered his services to the project for free.

Tony said: “There, inevitably, had to be a degree of creative interpretation but my carving represents a stylised anchor, the traces of which can be seen in the original. That seems apt given the church was known as the ‘Mariner’s Church’. 

“The first step was to make a scale model from clay, then using that alongside photographs, I hand carved the piece using traditional tools over four or so sessions.

“I’ve avidly followed Maryport’s recent regeneration and was wondering how I could make some small contribution. It seemed an opportunity too good to miss to offer to carve this piece for one of the key buildings in the town.”

Cumberland Council is managing £12 million of regeneration projects in Maryport, of which the new Maritime Museum is just one. Councillor Mark Fryer, Leader of the Council, said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to Tony for offering his stone carving services. It is always fantastic to see homegrown creative talent making a difference in Maryport and the Maritime Museum is one of our flagship projects.”

Tony is running a stone carving workshop at The Settlement in Maryport over the Taste Cumbria Taste of the Sea weekend on 9 and 10 August. Visit his website www.lostinstone.co.uk for details.