The area bounded by St Nicholas Circle, Talbot Lane and Holy Bones contains this outstanding monument, which includes the Jewry Wall; the above-ground and buried remains of a Roman Bath house and palaestra (exercise hall), and the Anglo-Saxon church of St Nicholas.

 

The map below is based upon OS Mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes copyright and may lead to prosecution. Leicester City Council Licence 100019264 (2009).

 

 

For a complete description and history of the monument, you can view the PDF attachment at the bottom of this page.

 

The site is located within the Castle Gardens Conservation Area. Reference Number of the Monument: SM17154. Adjacent to the site is the Jewry Wall Museum.

 

 

The Jewry Wall is one of Leicester’s greatest attractions. It is the only standing structure of Roman date in the city and is an impressive structure. It consists of alternate bands of Roman brick and coursed masonry (a method of construction known to the Romans as Opus Mixtum) and it is 23 metres (75 ft) long, 8 metres (26ft) high and 2.5 metres (8 ft) thick, making it one of the finest surviving fragments of Roman masonry in the country.

 

 

It was probably constructed as part of the western wall of the palaestra (or exercise hall) around 125 - 130 AD. The area in front of it has the remains of a bath suite built ca.135-140 AD. The site was excavated in 1936 by Dame Kathleen Kenyon who originally thought it had been a forum and basilica, but current thinking is that was intended as a bath suite.

St Nicholas Church

 

This Anglo-Saxon church was originally listed grade B in January 1950; the listing was revised to Grade I on 28th July 1997 (Reference number 2/107). Dating from ca.880 AD; possibly then the cathedral. It incorporates much Roman Masonry and brickwork.

Comprising: nave, chancel, central tower, north and south aisles, north trancept, south chapel and south porch. The nave is of Saxon origin with two Saxon windows on the inside of the north wall above an arcade. Also some Saxon masonry in C12 chancel. Late C11 central tower, raised a little later, with two tiers of blank arcading the upper with bell-openings. Norman north arcade, the south arcade was replaced in 1829 by single wide brick arch. Perpendicular clerestory and roof. Norman south doorway with zigzag decoration. Timber C16 south porch. South aisle and chapel are C13. North aisle and trancept built in 1875. South chapel contains original Sedilia and Piscina. Niche with canopy in north aisle brought from Wyggeston's Hospital. The spire was taken down in 1803.