Where
In Maryport, a town on the Solway Firth in Cumbria. The museum is housed in a Victorian naval reserve battery, built on land donated by Elizabeth Senhouse, once the lady of the manor.
What
A collection of Roman inscriptions, military altars and sculptures relating to the old Roman fort and settlement at Maryport. It represents one of the oldest antique collections in Britain, says manager Jane Laskey.
The collection was started in the mid-16th century by the Senhouse family and comes from material discovered on the site of Aluna, a Roman fort built in about 80AD, and its surrounding settlement or vicus, not long after the Roman invasion of Britain.
The fort was continuously occupied until 410AD when the Romans abandoned the province. The fort, which is on private land, is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site.
Opened
1990.
Collection
About 30 military altars, 20 building inscriptions and other objects. The garrison would make a new stone altar every year to renew its vows to its favoured god, Jupiter, the emperor and gods such as Mars. The earliest of the discovered altars was dedicated to Jupiter by Marcus Maenius Agrippa, the commander of the garrison and a friend of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
"For academics, the altars are important because their inscriptions contain so much information about dates and soldiers," explains Laskey. "The soldiers stationed here were auxiliaries recruited from across the Roman Empire."
Help at hand
Run by a charitable trust. Essentially it is the "incredibly valuable" volunteers - a hard core of about 10 - who keep the place going, says Laskey, who is herself part-time. Two other part-time members of staff look after front-of-house, education and the day-to-day running of the museum.
Budget
No regular outside support except an annual £1,000 from Maryport town council. "We have a small endowment, the interest of which helps on a day-to-day basis," says Laskey. "A little more than half our income comes from admission fees and from the shop." The annual budget of £30,000 has to pay for everything. The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided some funding for project planning.
Annual visits
Approximately 8,000 a year. As the collection is of international importance, many academics visit. The museum is also attractive to families on holidays. "The Romans are taught by schools in Key Stage 2," says Laskey. "So families bring their children to see the material. We're forever grateful to Key Stage 2."
Highlights
"A few native gods were adopted by the soldiers here," says Laskey. "One of my favourite pieces is a carving on a column base of Epona, a horse goddess, more commonly found in France and Germany. We also have a small clay pipe figure of a nursing mother goddess with an inscription of 'Dea Nutrix'."
Survival tip
"We take nothing for granted," says Laskey. The museum won the Shoestring Award in 1999 (a forerunner to the Gulbenkian Prize and one of the categories of the National Heritage Museum of the Year Awards) for doing things on a very small budget. "We are good at hanging on by our fingertips," she says.
Sticky moment
"We have been approached by pagan groups to do ceremonies on one of our other unique sculptures called the Serpent Stone," says Laskey. "This is an altar that was recycled late in the Roman period. It's about three feet high, with a serpent carved on one side and a Celtic human head on the other. It's a phallic shape. It's very attractive to pagans. We put them off nicely."
Current project
Senhouse is in its last stages of museum accreditation. "We have had some funding from Renaissance North West to do some remedial and preventive conservation work," Laskey says. "It's not sexy, but it is essential to our role as a museum."
In Maryport, a town on the Solway Firth in Cumbria. The museum is housed in a Victorian naval reserve battery, built on land donated by Elizabeth Senhouse, once the lady of the manor.
What
A collection of Roman inscriptions, military altars and sculptures relating to the old Roman fort and settlement at Maryport. It represents one of the oldest antique collections in Britain, says manager Jane Laskey.
The collection was started in the mid-16th century by the Senhouse family and comes from material discovered on the site of Aluna, a Roman fort built in about 80AD, and its surrounding settlement or vicus, not long after the Roman invasion of Britain.
The fort was continuously occupied until 410AD when the Romans abandoned the province. The fort, which is on private land, is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site.
Opened
1990.
Collection
About 30 military altars, 20 building inscriptions and other objects. The garrison would make a new stone altar every year to renew its vows to its favoured god, Jupiter, the emperor and gods such as Mars. The earliest of the discovered altars was dedicated to Jupiter by Marcus Maenius Agrippa, the commander of the garrison and a friend of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
"For academics, the altars are important because their inscriptions contain so much information about dates and soldiers," explains Laskey. "The soldiers stationed here were auxiliaries recruited from across the Roman Empire."
Help at hand
Run by a charitable trust. Essentially it is the "incredibly valuable" volunteers - a hard core of about 10 - who keep the place going, says Laskey, who is herself part-time. Two other part-time members of staff look after front-of-house, education and the day-to-day running of the museum.
Budget
No regular outside support except an annual £1,000 from Maryport town council. "We have a small endowment, the interest of which helps on a day-to-day basis," says Laskey. "A little more than half our income comes from admission fees and from the shop." The annual budget of £30,000 has to pay for everything. The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided some funding for project planning.
Annual visits
Approximately 8,000 a year. As the collection is of international importance, many academics visit. The museum is also attractive to families on holidays. "The Romans are taught by schools in Key Stage 2," says Laskey. "So families bring their children to see the material. We're forever grateful to Key Stage 2."
Highlights
"A few native gods were adopted by the soldiers here," says Laskey. "One of my favourite pieces is a carving on a column base of Epona, a horse goddess, more commonly found in France and Germany. We also have a small clay pipe figure of a nursing mother goddess with an inscription of 'Dea Nutrix'."
Survival tip
"We take nothing for granted," says Laskey. The museum won the Shoestring Award in 1999 (a forerunner to the Gulbenkian Prize and one of the categories of the National Heritage Museum of the Year Awards) for doing things on a very small budget. "We are good at hanging on by our fingertips," she says.
Sticky moment
"We have been approached by pagan groups to do ceremonies on one of our other unique sculptures called the Serpent Stone," says Laskey. "This is an altar that was recycled late in the Roman period. It's about three feet high, with a serpent carved on one side and a Celtic human head on the other. It's a phallic shape. It's very attractive to pagans. We put them off nicely."
Current project
Senhouse is in its last stages of museum accreditation. "We have had some funding from Renaissance North West to do some remedial and preventive conservation work," Laskey says. "It's not sexy, but it is essential to our role as a museum."
Links
www.senhousemuseum.co.uk
www.senhousemuseum.co.uk