Jewry Wall Museum

The Jewry Wall Museum stands beside the remains of Leicester’s Roman bath-house, in a 1960s building once shared with Vaughan College. The museum faces the Jewry Wall ruins, a tall red-brick fragment of the public baths excavated by Kathleen Kenyon between 1936 and 1939. Inside, displays show Iron Age, Roman and medieval finds from Leicester, including the Cyparissus Pavement and the Blackfriars Pavement. The building itself is Grade II listed and was designed by Trevor Dannatt, completed in 1962. After Vaughan College left in 2013, the city council bought the whole site and began expansion plans. The museum’s survival has depended on local campaigning. In 2004 cuts to opening hours prompted the Friends of Jewry Wall Museum to form and lobby for the site. In 2011 a proposal to close the museum was overturned following a motion led by Labour councillor Ross Willmott. After the university no longer needed the building, the council acquired it in 2016 and commissioned Levitate architects to redesign the space. The £20 million refurbishment created level access, a circular route and new multimedia displays. Visitors now enter through an accessible walkway within the scheduled ancient monument. Inside, a refreshed circular route guides them past Roman mosaics and medieval wall paintings. The upper floor offers immersive experiences and expanded displays of recent city excavations. Outside, the Jewry Wall ruins remain visible beside the museum, linking the modern building to Leicester’s Roman past. The project has won awards for sensitive adaptation of post-war architecture and is cited as a model for heritage regeneration.