CIMRM 808 - Supposed Mithraeum at Burham / Wouldham, Kent, Britain

Spurious. The report by Payne is followed by the following comments by F. James.

FREDERICK JAMES, Esq., communicated the following notes on the Burham Chamber: "The photographs and plan and section of the supposed Mithraic Chamber at Burham which, through the courtesy of the President and Council of the Society, it is my privilege to exhibit this evening, cover, for the most part, a period of the excavations anterior to that dealt with by Mr. Payne in the paper just read ; the first intimation I received of the discovery was from the owners of the property on November 24th, 1893,some months prior to Mr. Payne's visit. It seems desirable to place this fact upon record in the face of much which has been written and said upon the subject, for, so far as it relates to the period named above, this has been mostly of a conjectural character. On referring to the ground plan of the chamber [prepared by myself immediately after the west wall was discovered on November 23rd, 1893, and added to as the work of excavation proceeded], it will be seen that the chamber was approached from the west by a passage-way 4 feet in width, which opened into it, the south wall of both entrance and the chamber being in a continuous line. About 6 feet only of the walls of this passage-way remained at the time of my first visit, but on questioning the foreman of the men employed on the site, who, it should be stated, had been in the habit of preparing ground plans, I found that he had observed that the entrance partook of a zig-zag character for some distance to the west. That this was the case seems apparent from the photograph I exhibit of the quoin of the south wall, which shows the wall going off obliquely from the face of the south wall and in a south-westerly direction, at a point about 8 feet from the entrance. No remains, however, of a re-entering angle existed. From a photograph I was enabled to take of this approach to the chamber previous to digging into the interior (see illustration), it will be seen that the entrance was arched over, seven or eight voussoirs still remaining in place. The total height of the entrance from the floor to the crown of the arch was about 11 feet. In a paper 'on a supposed Mithraic cavern at Wouldham,' contributed to the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland(Vol. xxix (1895), p.204) by Mr. James Lang, in a paragraph dealing with this doorway, the writer refers to the height as having been such 'as to necessitate one stooping slightly when entering.' My photograph, the only evidence now available, completely refutes this idea, and only serves to show the unreliability of the evidence derived from a labourer who was present, upon which the height of the entrance was conjectured. At this point of the investigation, owing to the winter and other causes, digging was discontinued, but resumed in the spring of 1894, and it proceeded more or less continuously until July 12th of the same year. During the time which intervened, the whole of the filling in of the chamber was removed, subsequently disclosing to view a rectangular building, bearing E. 5 N., 39 feet 6 inches long and 19 feet 6 inches in width, which had originally been covered with a barrel vault, as shown in the illustration. The vault remained, however, only for a short height above the springing. This latter appeared to start at the eighth course upwards from the floor. The section taken on the line A - B of the plan shows that the walls were constructed of rough blocks of chalk and loose soil, and faced on the interior with rectangular blocks of dressed chalk. The width of the walls varied from 1 foot 10 inches to 3 feet, and appeared to be thickened out at the springing of the vault in order to give mass to this portion of the structure. As the chamber had been built in an excavation made for it in solid ground, this involved no constructional difficulties. In the centre of the north wall evidence was apparent of the former existence of a transverse groin, 19 feet in width, intersecting with the main vault. The purpose of this was to admit of the construction of a shaft in the wall. No traces of a corresponding feature presented themselves in the south wall. Within the limits of this transverse groin, in the centre of the north wall, was a broad shaft, 10 feet in width, commencing just above the level of the springing, at a height of 5 feet 9 inches above the floor, and sloping upwards and outwards. It had apparently been the means of admitting light to the chamber. The sides of this opening were splayed, and the whole aperture was faced in precisely the same manner as the adjacent walls, the tool-work being perhaps in better preservation hereabouts than elsewhere. There now only remains the east wall of the chamber (see illustration). This, as will be seen from the section, contained three round-arched niches, the average measurement of each being : height, 4 feet 8 inches ; width at sill, 2 feet 10 inches ; depth, 2 feet 2 inches. It was noticed that the courses of chalk masonry had been carried round the interior of each niche in continuation of those of the face of the wall, implying that the niches were formed in the wall, and the wall built at one and the same time, for the purpose, votive or otherwise, to which it was to be adapted. This fact is worth mentioning as an answer to a suggestion which has been made that the chamber may originally have been intended for purposes other than those now claimed for it. As regards the 'ornamentation' which prevailed on the face of almost every block composing the walls on the inside of the chamber, it certainly could not be termed 'mouldings in relief,' as described by Mr. Payne in a former note.(Proceedings. 2nd S. vol. xv. p. 185) The patterns which the tool-marks assumed, whether approaching the chevron in character or consisting of diagonal, horizontal, or perpendicular cuts, could not be strictly described as 'ornament,' but were simply the result of the dressing each block received at the hands of the workman. The blocks of the courses forming the lower portion of the walls being too wide to be trimmed or faced the whole width at once, were treated with the adze-like instrument, one half of their width at first, and then the block was reversed to receive similar trimming on the remaining half ; hence the marks resembling a chevron in design. The upper courses being composed of blocks of narrower width, could be dressed at one stroke and covering the entire width, thus accounting for the character of the tool-marks on them compared with those on the courses below. Had any plaster been found adhering to the walls of the chamber, the purpose of dressing the blocks in the manner just described would have been apparent. With regard to the relics recovered from the debris with which the chamber was filled up, nothing other than those usually associated with Roman settlements, pottery, tiles, etc., occurred. Bones of horse, ox, deer, pig, and sheep were noted, as also oyster, mussel, and snail shells. Iron nails were found in the body of the west wall. A coin of the Constantine period was also recovered. From fragments discovered, the floor seems to have been of opus signinum. As to the probable uses to which this practically unique structure, at least in this country, was devoted, I am not competent to form an opinion. My acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Peters Brothers, the owners of the property, for the facilities they afforded during the work of investigation."

See also Monument details from Kent County Council:

A selection of documents and photographs are listed on the Kent CC site, and can doubtless be consulted via a personal visit.

CIMRM entry

808 An underground room, discovered between Wouldham and Burham old church on the East side of the Medway (1894). Lang in PSASc XXIX, 1895,204; Payne-James in PSAL (S. 2), XVI, 1897, 105ff with fig. The vaulted cave (H. 4.70 Br. 7.50 D. 4.70), hewn out in the rock, is of an elliptic design. In it a room was constructed of limestone, the entrance (H. 4.20 Br. 3.60) of which is situated on the East side. Behind this entrance a passage has been made in zigzag-fashion by means of two small limestone walls. In the back-wall, there are three niches side by side, whereas in the North sidewall a long, narrow opening had been made, through which the light could enter. In the floor of this room a well rises. These data have created the impression, that here at Burham a Mithras-sanctuary should have been found. In that case the niches in the back-wall should have contained the reliefs. Also the existence of the well is in favour of this theory. But no single find has been made, which could have given a definite solution. Later on the room was filled up with all kinds of refuse. Among other thing, bones of horses, oxen, deer, swine and sheep were found. together with many fragments of Roman pottery.

Bibliography

• R.F. Jessup, "The 'Temple of Mithras' at Burham", Archaeologia Cantiana 70, 1956, 168-171. Online here.
• Mark Samuel, The Burham Temple: A new solution to an old problem, Society of Antiquaries of London, 25 February 2016. (Youtube Video, 56:50)