The Collection

The Historical Time Line

The Main Gallery on the ground floor is dedicated to a Time Line recording Maryport's development from the small settlement of Ellenfoot to its founding as a new harbour and town in the mid eighteenth century. Objects on display record the growth of the town to a major port and centre of industry in the nineteenth century to its later decline.

Virtual Tour and Library

The Virtual Tour was installed to make the first floor gallery accessible to those who cannot use the stairs. The roaming programme displays the four galleries on a large touch screen and provides extra detail through many red information points.

The reference library includes a variety of local resources, many of which are now out of print. There is information compiled by our local historian on Maryport shipping, shipbuilding yards, ships, captains and crew.  There is a collection of publications relating to Maryport and the surrounding area, together with books on general maritime history, including a selection of copies of Lloyd’s Shipping Register.

The William Mitchell Room

Born in Donaghadee Co Down in 1823, William Mitchell became a recognised maritime artist.  He immigrated to Maryport to work on the Maryport and Carlisle Railway as a carriage and train painter.  Around 1863, he resigned from the engine works at Grasslot to become a full time artist. He remained in Maryport, working as an artist until his death in 1900.

The William Mitchell Room includes several of his works, such as “A Breezy Day”, (1863) and also two paintings by his lesser known son, James.