{"id":459028,"date":"2026-03-05T14:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459028\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:24:10","slug":"condition-of-maryport-harbour-sculpture-set-to-be-addressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459028\/","title":{"rendered":"Condition of Maryport Harbour sculpture set to be addressed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesandstar.co.uk\/news\/17232741.ancient-name-wins-day-maryports-harbourside-art-installation\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Alauna Aurora has been in situ on Maryport Harbour since August 2018<\/a>. A piece of metalwork, the art installation depicts a number of iconic town landmarks such as the pier and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesandstar.co.uk\/news\/25673548.maryport-double-yellow-disabled-parking-changes-planned\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fleming Square<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  But residents have raised concerns about the appearance of the feature, which is currently covered in rust.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Officers of Maryport Town Council have confirmed to the Times &amp; Star that the condition of the feature has been raised to them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>The Alauna Aurora when it was first installed on Maryport Harbour in 2018. (Image: Jim Davis)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A town council member raised the issue after seeing a social media post about the condition of the Alauna.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The council spokesperson said that the feature is maintained annually and the rust that has developed on it will be addressed but &#8220;the work required can only be done weather permitting.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Residents of Maryport were invited to name the sculpture when it was first installed and many submissions included the word Alauna.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Alauna was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesandstar.co.uk\/news\/25804076.dig-something-unusual-go-maryport-expert-advice\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Roman word for the area<\/a> in the ancient world.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>A plaque detailing the historical significance of images on the sculpture. (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Maryport&#8217;s storied maritime history is proudly displayed on the sculpture with depictions of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsandstar.co.uk\/news\/24507249.plaque-unveiled-honour-titanic-engineer-jonathan-shepherd\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RMS Titanic<\/a> and HMS Bounty.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Joseph Middleton, who opened a shipyard in Maryport in 1810, was the great-grandfather of Thomas Henry Ismay, the founder of the White Star Line which built the Titanic.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Fletcher Christian, who led a mutiny on the HMS Bounty, was born in the Maryport area and his family owned the now demolished Ewanrigg Hall.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>A close-up of the Alauna Aurora feature, which was installed in 2018. (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The town&#8217;s railway history is also illustrated on the orb by a coal-powered train.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A railway line from Maryport to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsandstar.co.uk\/local-news\/carlisle-news\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Carlisle<\/a> was developed in the mid-19th century, supporting the transportation of coal.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsandstar.co.uk\/subscribe\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SUBSCRIBE TO SUPPORT TRUSTED LOCAL JOURNALISM<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Maryport was originally built by Humphrey Senhouse in the 1700s to capitalise on the presence of the coal deposits.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It was previously known as Ellenfoot, a fishing hamlet along the River Ellen, before Mr Senhouse secured Parliamentary approval for construction of a town and harbour, named after his wife Mary.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Alauna Aurora originally cost \u00a39,000, paid for by a grant from the former Allerdale Borough Council.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It was developed by Fire Pit Design, a company from the North East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alauna Aurora has been in situ on Maryport Harbour since August 2018. A piece of metalwork, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-459028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}