London's Mithraeum moves again
The story of how a temple to Mithras, a Persian mystery cult god, came to be built in the heart of London is a fascinating enough story, even if it had stopped there. Having lain dormant for almost 1,700 years, the Temple of Mithras was discovered in 1954, during some preliminary digging to make way for the Bucklersbury House development. The temple was moved, piece by piece, to Temple Court, EC4 and reconstructed – with a questionable degree of success. Now, for the second time in a century, it is on the move again.The cult of the god Mithras is undoubtedly one of the most mysterious and intriguing religions to have found its way into the Roman empire.
Mithras was derived from an Indo-Iranian god of war who appealed particularly to soldiers, so the cult found its way from the East and quickly spread throughout the Roman empire from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD.
With its secretive rites, for initiates only, and gory bull sacrifices, Mithraism has captured the imagination of many over the past 2,000 years, from Thomas More, who, in his novel Utopia, published in 1516, called his deity Mithras, through to post-war Londoners whose imaginations were fired by the extraordinary find in September 1954.
The uncovering of the temple, aided by the find of a very photogenic sculpted head of Mithras, led to quite a commotion in Churchill's capital, which even saw the Prime Minister dispatching Sir David Eccles, the Minister for Works, to the dig site.
The whole incident led to the now-commonplace policy of the developer funding an archaeological dig prior to construction. It was Legal & General who funded the work by WF Grimes, the director of the London Museum. So great was the excitement that the excavation was open to the public for two hours each evening, with crowd control provided by the police. Eight years after its discovery, the temple site was fully restored on Queen Victoria Street, only 90 metres from where it had been. It was hailed by some as a triumph, while others remained sceptical.
Most of the intricate carvings from its interior had been taken to museums, many of the construction stones had been disposed of in graveyards and, most disappointing of all, it had been reconstructed on only one level. One of the most distinctive features of this religion is the Mithraeum itself, which is always below ground and windowless. It is thought that this or underworld context was conducive to the Mysteries. Followers of Mithras entered into darkness past fire. It also represented the cave into which Mithras had carried and killed a bull. So the reconstruction
of this temple, open to the elements and on top of a car-park, was lamented by many, including WF Grimes, who commented bitterly: 'My suggestions were completely ignored… The result is virtually meaningless as a reconstruction of a Mithraeum'.
Now there is the chance to do justice both to the work of Grimes and to the temple itself. With the demolition of Bucklersbury House, Bloomberg LP, the developers, have funded the reinstatement of the temple, on its original site near where the ancient River Walbrook ran.
Over winter the temple was painstakingly deconstructed, with far more diligence than when it had been erected, every piece cleaned, stored and numbered. The next step will be the movement and reconstruction of this material. This should allow some of the mystery, spirit and authenticity of the site to be recaptured, so that it will fire the imagination of visitors when it reopens.
Geoff Lowsley