Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MARYPORT

MARYPORT, a seaport-town, a chapelry, and a subdistrict, in Cockermouth district, Cumberland. The town stands at the influx of the river Ellen to the Irish sea, and at the junction of the Maryport and Carlisle railway with the railway southward to Whitehaven and Lancashire, 5 miles NNE of Workington, and 28 SW by W of Carlisle. It took its name from being the landing place of Mary Queen of Scots, on her flight from Scotland; but it long bore the name of Ellen-foot; and, till about 1750, it was a mere small fishing village. It is now a well built town, with spacious streets, somewhat irregularly aligned; and it occupies a pleasant site on both sides of the river, partly along the shore, and partly on an eminence. It was a sub-port of Whitehaven till 1838; but it then became a head-port; and it has subsequently prospered and improved. It has a head lostoffice,‡ a railway station with telegraph, 2 banking offices, several inns, a market-house, a court-house, a customhouse, a church, six dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, an athenæum, national-schools, and British schools; is governed by seventeen trustees under an act of 1866; enjoys an excellent supply of water, from works, formed in 1868; and is a seat of petty sessions. The church was built in 1760; was restored and enlarged in 1835; and is a stone structure, with a tower. The dissenting chapels are English Presbyterian, United Presbyterian, Baptist, Quaker, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist. A public cemetery is about a mile to the N. The athenæum was built in 1857, at a cost of £2,500; and includes a large public room, a mechanics' institution, a reading-room, and a soup-kitchen. A dwellinghouse, called an observatory, was built in 1858, on an eminence 140 ft. above sea-level. Markets are held on Tuesday and Friday; and fairs on Whit-Friday and on the Friday after 11 Nov. Ship-building is carried on in several yards, and with aid of two patent slips; the manufacture of sail-cloth, linen checks, cotton-fabrics, cables, and anchors, is considerable; and there are iron and brass foundries, steam saw-mills, tanneries, flour-mills, and a brewery. The adjacent beaches are favourable for seabathing, and draw some summer visitors. A large coasting commerce is carried on, particularly in coal; and a good import trade exists in timber and flax, from America and the Baltic. The vessels belonging to the port, at the beginning of 1864, were 10 small sailingvessels, of aggregately 200 tons; 119 large sailing-vessels, of aggregately 23,804 tons; and four small steam-vessels, of aggregately 99 tons. The vessels which entered in 1863 were 12 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 3,316 tons, from British colonies; 4 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 460 tons, from foreign countries; 3 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 333 tons, from foreign countries; and 371 sailing-vessels, of aggregately 30,201 tons, coastwise. The vessels which cleared in 1863 were 25 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 6,370 tons, to British colonies; 7 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 944 tons, to foreign countries; 5 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 585 tons, to foreign countries; and 3,066 sailing-vessels, of aggregately 265,086 tons, coastwise. The amount of customs in 1867, was £3,840. The harbour enjoys easy access; has an average depth of 18 feet at springs, and 12 feet at neaps; includes a capacious dock and good piers and quays; and shows on the Spier, a fixed light 51 feet high, visible at the distance of 12 miles. Herring fishing is carried on; and extensive coal mines, and limestone and red freestone quarries, are in the neighbourhood. The seats of Nether Hall and Ewenrigg Hall, and the Roman station of Ellenborough, are in the vicinity. Pop. of the town, in 1851,5,698; in 1861,6,037. Houses, 1,353.—The chapelry is in CrossCanonby parish; and comprises 482 acres of land, and 424 of water. Real property, £39,637; of which £37 are in quarries, £26,470 in railways, and £374 in gasworks. Pop. in 1851,5,716; in 1861,6,150. Houses, 1,356. The manor belongs to J. P. Senhouse, Esq. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £150.* Patron, J. P. Senhouse, Esq.—The sub-district contains also the rest of Cross-Canonby parish, four other parishes, and parts of three others. Acres, 20,329. Pop., 13,707. Houses, 2,840.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a seaport-town, a chapelry, and a subdistrict"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Cockermouth RegD/PLU       Cumberland AncC
Place: Maryport

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