Middle Tap

Middle Tap, formerly the Board Vaults Public House, is an early 19th-century building in Maryport, Cumbria. The town was planned and established in the mid-18th century by Humphrey Senhouse to serve local coal mining, iron industries, and as a minor shipping point. Maryport expanded in the 19th century to support iron, steel, and shipbuilding industries, though later declined with the cessation of industrial activity in the late 1920s. Senhouse Street, which runs from Curzon Street to the harbour, retains its historic layout, and this building, number 16, was one of six public houses on the street in the mid-19th century. It was initially run by William Wilson and Company between 1862 and 1880, then by James Dickinson. The building is rendered with a modillion and moulded eaves cornice. The ground floor features two shop windows, one an oriel to the left (west), and two doors flanking another shop window, all beneath a continuous moulded cornice. A doorway is present at basement level, and the upper floors feature two windows with moulded surrounds and glazing bars.