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Archaeologist, would be historian, Psychic, published Author, Tea Drinker and Motorcycle Rider.
The archaeology of the Mithraeum at Carrawburgh
On the York Tauroctony from C. Wellbeloved, Eburacum (1842)
This Mithraic group was found in the year 1747, at the depth of ten feet below the surface, by some workmen, who were engaged in digging a cellar in Micklegate, opposite to St. Martin's Church. Mr. Drake, to whom it was immediately shown, 'being at a loss,' as he candidly confessed, 'what to make of it, but judging it some representation of a heathen sacrifice or game, sent to his friend, Dr. Stukeley, as just a drawing of it as could be taken;' whose explanation of it was afterwards communicated by Mr. Drake to the Philosophical Society, and published in the Transactions of the Society for the years 1743-1750, Vol. X. p. 1311. This curious relic came, whether by gift or purchase the author knows not, into the possession of Mrs. Sandercock, of York, by whom it was bequeathed, with other property, to the late Dr. Robert Cappe, youngest son of the late Rev. Newcome Cappe; and after his death was presented, by the advice of th...
The Rudchester (Vidobala) Mithraeum
Sometime before 1772 an unfinished altar was found at Rudchester although the exact find spot is unrecorded. RIB 2344 - No Translation
The capital carries two wheel-patterns above three recesses. After its discovery the altar was inverted and the base was recut to carry heraldic shields and the lettering: R + H and beneath WRAH, and on the face a simple IR.
Hodgson noted that the initials wr and ir may refer to members of the Rutherford family, which owned Rudchester until 1667
It was taken to Gateshead, where the Rev. Andrew Wood built it upside down into the garden-wall of his Rectory.
Later presented to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne and kept in the Black Gate, being finally transferred to the Museum of Antiquities
The Mithraeum
In August 1844, 5 altars and a statue were discovered by men 'working stones out of a mound of earth” about 200 yards west of Rudchester Manor. This find was published by John Bell and Thoma
Archaeologist, would be historian, Psychic, published Author, Tea Drinker and Motorcycle Rider.
