Long server and history lover, Dennis Atkinson, came across an unusual find in Pallett Hill quarry’s dig last week when an Altar stone and a number of animal bones from the Roman occupation of the British Isles were unearthed.

West Yorkshire Archaeological Services (WYAS) tell us that the artefact is at least 1,600 years old and was thought to be used in sacrificial rituals.

It initially stood at the edge of a lake which the nearby Roman Marching Camp used to draw water from. After confirming with a metal detector that there were no gold coins buried around the area, Pallett Hill staff assembled around the altar and sacrificed a ham sandwich to the Quarry Gods in hope of a plentiful harvest of sand and gravel in the coming months.

The altar is now on its way back to WYAS’ high tech lab to be cleaned up, and to determine if the Latin inscriptions on the altar can be decrypted.