What's on
There’s always something on the horizon.
We’re getting ready to open the doors of Maryport Maritime Museum in the New Year. Our team is planning activities and events that bring the town’s stories to life – from family days and creative workshops to talks and exhibitions inspired by the collection.
For now, we’re focused on preparing the museum and its displays, so please check back soon or follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Every event helps us share the stories of the sea, the land, and the deep underground.
Date
Cannons preserved as part of Maryport project
A pair of historic cannon mounts in a prominent Maryport location have been repaired and protected for the future.
The structures, which sit outside what will soon be the new Maryport Maritime Museum, had reached the end of their useful life, but now they have been restored as part of extensive regeneration work in the town.
The cannons themselves are on loan from the Royal Artillery Museum. One is a 32-pounder Iron Gun, which is nearly five feet long and was cast in the UK in 1796. The other is a 30-pounder Russian Carronade which is nearly six feet long. The term ‘pounder’ refers to the weight of the balls the cannons were designed to fire.
The new mounts for the cannons have been made by Thomas Armstrong Construction, of Flimby, which is the main contractor for the Maritime Museum, as part of its social impact contribution to the project. The building is being developed as part of Cumberland Council’s £12 million regeneration projects in Maryport.
The cannons are an added element of detail on the exterior of the building which has been carefully cleaned, repointed and repaired. Inside, the former church has undergone a dramatic and beautiful transformation and is currently being fitted out ahead of the Museum’s opening.
David Atkinson, managing director of Thomas Armstrong Construction, said: “We are proud of our local heritage and our relationship with Cumberland Council, so when we were asked if we could protect this little piece of history we were more than willing to assist.
“The existing cannon mounts were dilapidated and beyond repair, so we took careful photographs and measurements so our specialist joinery department could create detailed replicas. They are made of sapele, a dense and durable hardwood, which means they will last for many years to come. The wood has also been treated to give added protection from its exposed coastal location.
“Those cannons are incredibly heavy, as well as being historically important, so we hired in specialist lifting equipment to fit them in place. They’re a great finishing touch for the project.”
Councillor Mark Fryer, Leader of Cumberland Council, added: “Many thanks to the joinery team at Thomas Armstrong Construction for creating the mounts for these historic cannons. They’re a small but important part of Maryport Maritime Museum’s site.
“It is great to see another piece of history being protected.”
Carving a new piece of history
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.
Time to put the clocks back in Maryport
The latest stage of a regeneration project in Maryport is turning back time – and that means the clock is now ticking for the reopening of one of the town’s most famous landmarks.
The clock in the spire of Christ Church, the historic landmark on the harbourside, has been restored and reinstalled as part of the building’s £1.8 million restoration.
The four clock faces – including one which has been missing from public view for many years – are now back in situ, while behind the scenes the clock mechanism is back in working order, with a new automatic timekeeping regulator installed. This means the time won’t have to be manually altered when the hour jumps forward or back in the spring and autumn due to daylight saving changes.
Cumberland Council is in the process of restoring Grade II-listed Christ Church ahead of reopening it to the public as Maryport’s new maritime museum. It’s a massive project which has been made possible by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund and the venue is due to reopen this year.
The clock has been restored by The Cumbria Clock Company in Penrith. The expert teams there have worked on some of the most famous clocks in the world, including the one in Westminster Tower, often erroneously called Big Ben, as well as Liverpool’s Royal Liver Building and Manchester Town Hall.
The original Christ Church clock was donated by Maryport-born Thomas Henry Ismay, founder of the White Star Line which went on to operate the Titanic. The building, which dates back to 1872 and has featured in paintings by the likes of LS Lowry, had sat empty for a number of years. The Council bought it in 2020 with the intention of restoring it and bringing it back into public use.
Councillor Mark Fryer, Leader of Cumberland Council, said: “This clock has guided sailors and townspeople alike for more than 150 years and it is fantastic that it is back in proper working order.
“It’s also great that we had the expertise in the county to take on the repairs. Thank you to The Cumbria Clock Company for getting this piece of Maryport’s history ticking again and reinstalling it as a valuable timepiece for all.”
