Senhouse Roman Museum [Alauna]
Contact information
The Battery, Sea Brows
Maryport
Cumbria CA15 6JD
Telephone: 01900 816168
Facilities and additional information
Dramatically sited on the cliffs overlooking the Solway Firth, this award winning Museum is next to a Roman fort built on the orders of the emperor Hadrian nearly two thousand years ago. 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.
Most of the objects in the Museum derive from the fort at Maryport and the Roman civil settlement attached to it. 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.