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Maryport
Maryport shown within Cumbria
Population	11,275
OS grid reference	NY038363
District	Allerdale
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MARYPORT
Postcode district	CA15
Dialling code	01900
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Workington
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Cumbria

Coordinates: 54°42′46″N 3°29′33″W / 54.7128, -3.4926

Maryport is a town within the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, in the historic county of Cumberland. It is located on the A596 north of Workington, and is the southernmost town on the Solway Firth. It is in the parliamentary constituency of Workington.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Roman times 1.2 Georgian times 1.3 Victorian times 1.4 Modern times 1.5 Politics 2 Economy 3 Culture 4 Notable people 5 References 6 External links

Main article: Alauna (Maryport)

The town was first established as the Roman fort Alauna in around AD 122 as a command and supply base for the coastal defences of Hadrian's Wall at its western extremity. There is substantial remains of the Roman fort, which was the last in a series of forts from Hadrian's Wall to prevent the wall being avoided by a crossing of the Solway Firth. Recent geo-magnetic surveys have revealed a large Roman town surrounding the fort. A recent archaeological dig discovered evidence of a second, earlier and larger fort next to, and partially under the present remains. After the Roman retreat from Britain the town was soon reduced in size and importance.

For many years the town was named Ellenfoot but the name was changed by Humphrey Senhouse as he began developing the town as a port, following the example of Whitehaven. In 1749 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the creation of the present town. Humphrey Senhouse named the new town after his wife Mary. The Senhouse family were the major landowners in the Maryport area and they were responisible for the development of the town and excavation of its Roman past.

The town quickly developed as an industrial centre throughout the 19th century with an iron foundry and coal mines opening. The port also developed as did ship yards, such as Ritson's, which were famous launching ships broadside into the river Ellen because it was not wide enough to allow ships to be launched the usual way. The Maryport & Carlisle Railway railway to Carlisle was built in the 1840s with George Stephenson as its engineer and handled heavy coal traffic at the Maryport end. Maryport docks were exporting over 340,000 tons/yr of coal by 1857- about triple the exports at the end of the 1830s. (And the railway paid exceedingly good dividends - 9 to 10% - for much of its first 50 years).

However, by the beginning of the 20th century the town was suffering an economic decline. All but one of the ship yards had closed and trade declined because the newly built dock was not wide enough to accommodate new ships. During the depression, adult unemployment peaked at over 50%.

The town had a brief recovery during World War II but its status as an industrial port was never recovered. The decades after the war saw further industrial decline with many of the primary sources of local employment, such as the coal mines, closing down. The final open-cast mine closed in 2000. Today, after a series of major regeneration projects, prospects for the town are looking better.

The town is a mainly Labour voting area although far right parties such as the British National Party have tried and failed to make inroads.

Tourism is now the main business in Maryport. It has a railway station on the Barrow-in-Furness - Carlisle line, an aquarium, a Maritime museum and a Roman museum. The latter houses numerous Roman artefacts; most notably a series of altars to Jupiter Optimus Maximus which were excavated in the 18th century from the parade ground of the Roman fort.

The town is a major name on the Blues scene, holding a popular music festival every summer, which has previously attracted names such as Jools Holland, Dionne Warwick, Elkie Brooks and Buddy Guy and this year features Van Morrison as the headline act. For the last few years there have been a few local bands who have played at various venues around the town such as Giant Killer, A Lesser Concern, Off The Hook, Red Spider and AWOL. This year festival will include South Quay, AWOL, Off The Hook and Broken English. For more information about the festival go to the Maryport Blues Website

Notable past residents of Maryport have included:

• Thomas Henry Ismay
• Fletcher Christian
• George Tosh

• Biggins, J. A. and Taylor, D. J. A., 2004b, The Roman Fort and Vicus at Maryport: Geophysical Survey, 2000 - 2004, in R. J. A. Wilson and I, Caruana (eds.), Romans on the Solway, CWAAS for the Trustees of the Senhouse Museum, Maryport, 102-133.

• Index of Maryport Sailing Ships
• article on the Maritime Museum

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Boroughs or districts	City of Carlisle • Borough of Allerdale • Borough of Barrow-in-Furness • Borough of Copeland • District of Eden • District of South Lakeland
Cities and towns	Alston • Ambleside • Appleby-in-Westmorland • Aspatria • Barrow-in-Furness • Bowness-on-Windermere • Brampton • Broughton-in-Furness • Carlisle • Cleator Moor • Cockermouth • Dalton-in-Furness • Egremont • Grange-over-Sands • Harrington • Kendal • Keswick • Kirkby Lonsdale • Kirkby Stephen • Longtown • Maryport • Millom • Milnthorpe • Penrith • Sedbergh • Silloth • Ulverston • Whitehaven • Wigton • Windermere • Workington • See also: List of civil parishes in Cumbria