Roman Leicester and its Baths

The only visible remains of Roman Leicester are the public baths.  The bathing ritual lay at the heart of Roman social life.

A plan of the Roman town as it would have been laid out  © English Heritage  Two thousand years ago, this part of Leicester was an important settlement for the Corieltavi, a native British tribe who occupied the area known today as the East Midlands.  Following the Roman Conquest of AD43 the town was called Ratae Corieltavorum.  It became a thriving centre for the next four hundred years.

Encouraged by their conquerors, the Corieltavi built many great public buildings including the baths, which were constructed in about AD150.

The forum and basilica complex is situated behind the church of St Nicholas. It was the centre of local government and trade.  A market hall was built behind the church and a Roman temple stood nearby.

In front of the church stands the Jewry Wall, the only upstanding remains of the public baths.  It is one of the largest remaining pieces of Roman masonry in Britain. People entered the baths through the arches in the wall after exercising in the gym (palaestra), a large building now lying beneath the church.  The base of each arch is at Roman floor level.