It commemorates the raid on Whitehaven by John Paul Jones during the AWI. A small shore party landed and spiked the guns of the battery defending the harbour. A short distance away are what appeared to be castle walls. Actually they are part of the retaining wall for Wellington Pit.
All the pit buildings were designed so that together they looked like a castle; perhaps the improve the general vista of the harbour. A few miles inland are the remains of a proper castle, Hayes castle. As you can see, there isn't much of it, but its ruination is not due to recent neglect, or even the 'slighting' which affected many castles following the English Civil War. It was abandoned by Christopher Moresby in the late 14th century and was described on his death in 1392 as 'greatly ruined' and has obviously gone downhill since.
However, it at least has some visible evidence of its existence. You could easily walk past the Roman fort as Moresby without knowing it was there. Fortunately there is an information board to give some guidance
Great post, love the statue spiking the gun!
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