Blitz bombings & the discovery of the Temple of Mithras

During World War II, large areas of the City of London were devastated by German bombs, particularly between September 1940 and May 1941 – the Blitz. The rebuilding of the ruined areas after the war presented archaeologists with an opportunity to investigate the ancient remains of London that lay underneath the modern City.

The excavation happened in two phases. First, Roman discoveries made by the Roman and Mediaeval Excavation Council (RMLEC) and Guildhall Museum staff in the post-war years. The second was the most famous Roman excavation of the period – the temple of Mithras, first uncovered in 1954.

At a time before modern health and safety rules, archaeologists worked alongside contractors on buildings sites with very little protection from the machinery, rubble, pits and mud. It could sometimes be very hazardous. In fact, Guildhall Museum Field Officer Ivor Noël Hume warned his replacement in 1957 that they “must be prepared to excavate pits, wells, etc. under conditions which sometimes threaten personal danger”.

Many archaeologists worked on these sites and are now famous names in the archaeological world, such as Professor W.F. Grimes, Dr Peter Marsden and Ivor Noël Hume. Others are less well-known, but their work was essential in this phase of post-war archaeology.

People like Audrey Williams, who ran the day-to-day work on many RMLEC excavations. She is often seen in photographs wearing her distinctive woollen hat. Or Audrey Baines, an archaeologist who worked for Ivor Noël Hume, first as a volunteer and then as a paid assistant, tirelessly helping him to dig and conserve objects for the Guildhall Museum.

I have been working at London Museum of London for 17 years, long enough that many objects in the Roman gallery seem like old friends. However, I rarely thought much about the exact circumstances of their discovery. When choosing photographs from the archives for an exhibition in October 2017, I finally saw the moments when several of the objects actually came out of the ground.

The London Mithreaum’s website has several oral histories and a documentary film that documents the moments of the discovery and excavation. This includes memories of people such as Gerry Michaels, who says: “It was remarkable how within a week it was in the newspapers… and thousands and thousands of people came from all over the country to have a look at it, and we thought – we got there first!”

This was also covered in the second half of the exhibition, curated by MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), revealing the fascinating story of the discovery of the temple of the Roman god Mithras in 1954. As Peter Gosnell says in the Remembering the 1954 discovery documentary, “Not much good came out of the London Blitz, but Mithras did.”

MOLA also conducted more recent excavations on the site in 2010 –2014, prior to the construction of Bloomberg's new European headquarters.

Thousands of amazing objects were discovered during the 1954 and 2010–2014 excavations, including the head of a statue of Mithras himself, which is now in the London Collection. Many other fascinating artefacts are on display in London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE. This new cultural space, reconstructed on the location of the original Temple of Mithras, also showcases an immersive experience of the ancient temple as well as a series of contemporary art commissions that respond to the history of the site.

Find out more about London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE on their website.

Meriel Jeater is Curator at London Museum, and curated the 2017 exhibition Lost City of London.