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.