Verulamium Museum

Abstract

THE new Verulamium Museum at St. Albans, which has been erected by the Corporation at a cost of £8,000, was declared open by the Earl of Harewood on May 8. The purpose of the Museum is to house the finds from the excavation by Dr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler and the late Mrs. Wheeler between 1930 and 1934 of the Roman city of Verulamium and the pre-Roman Belgic city in Prae Wood. A tablet in the entrance hall commemorates Mrs. Wheeler's part in the excavation. The museum building, of which Mr. F. Newton is the architect, and Mr. Philip Corder will act as curator, contains in addition to offices and laboratories, a museum hall 75 ft. long, in which are displayed a selection of the finest and most typical specimens from the two sites, grouped in an arrangement which will most readily convey their significance to the visitor. The large mass of material still under examination at the Institute of Archaeology in London will eventually be stored in the Verulamium Museum, and though not displayed, will be available for students reference. Three of the finest of the mosaic pavements discovered at Verulamium, including the square pavement displaying the remarkable head of a sea god, and the striking semi-circular scallop-pattern pavement of about A.D. 130-150, are shown on the end-wall, facing the visitor on entering. On the left of the entrance are the wall-cases containing the Belgic pottery, both imported and home-made, from the pre-Roman site of Prae Wood, ranging in date from about A.D. 10-40. The remaining cases are given up to exhibits from Verulamium. The material culture of the inhabitants of the Roman site is exhibited in the long series of burial groups, among which not the least interesting relic is a denarius of Augustus, which was converted into a Mithraic token some two centuries after its issue. A large model of the important south-eastern, or London, gate is also shown.