The Jewry Wall and Roman Bath foundations, Leicester, Leicestershire, UK.
"The Jewry Wall in Leicester, England is believed to be the remaining wall of the public baths of Roman Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) along with foundations of the baths, which are laid out in front of the wall. The wall is nearly 2000 years old, and is a rare example of Roman walling. It is the second largest piece of surviving civil Roman building in Britain (the largest being the 'great work' at Wroxeter, also part of a municipal baths complex). The Jewry Wall would have been the wall separating the gymnasium from the cold room. The remains of the baths were excavated in the 1930s by Dame Kathleen Kenyon and date from approximately 160 AD. The wall and baths are adjoined by the Jewry Wall Museum, which contains excellent local examples of Roman mosaics and wall plaster. The site is in the guardianship of English Heritage. The name of the wall is unlikely to relate to Leicester's medieval Jewish community, which was never large, and which was expelled from the town by Simon de Montfort in 1231. One theory, which has achieved widespread currency, is that the name bears some relation to the 24 jurats of Saxon Leicester, the senior members of the Corporation of Leicester, who were said to meet in the town churchyard - possibly that of St. Nicholas, just next to the baths and largely made out of Roman building rubble. However, it seems more likely that the name in fact derives from a broader folk-belief attributing mysterious ruins of unknown origin to Jews: such attributions are found at a number of other sites elsewhere in England, and in other parts of Europe." Wikipedia entry
Size: 2415px × 3624px
Location: The Jewry Wall, Saint Nicholas Circle, Leicester, Leicestershire, UK
Photo credit: © Maurice Savage / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: baths, britain, corieltauvorum, england, english, foundations, heritage, historic, jewry, jurats, leicester, leicestershire, maintained, midlands, preserved, ratae, remains, roman, ruin, ruins, site, stone, uk, wall
