Wall Roman Site

About the museum

Wall, near Lichfield, was the Roman settlement of Letocetum on Watling Street, the military road to north Wales. After the invasion of AD 43 the army built camps and several forts here. From about AD 80 a mansio, an official guesthouse where travellers could lodge and change horses, and a bath house were added, and a small civilian town with workshops grew up around them.

Official travel declined in the third century and the mansio was pulled down around AD 250. The bath house lasted until about AD 300. In the fourth century a defended enclosure was built across the road, possibly to collect tolls, and the settlement shrank considerably.

Local antiquarians excavated the baths and the mansio in 1912–14, hoping to create a visitor attraction, and a temporary museum was set up on the site. It was later made permanent in a small nineteenth-century farm building that still serves as the museum. The site later came into state care and the remains were consolidated and displayed. The ruins include the cold, warm and hot rooms of the baths with traces of underfloor heating.

The museum display is largely the one arranged by the 1930s. It shows finds from the baths, the mansio and a cemetery west of the village, including jewellery, pottery, part of a Roman milestone, a lead figurine of an African warrior and painted wall plaster from the baths. The site is managed by English Heritage and owned by the National Trust.

Highlights

• Remains of a Roman bath house with cold, warm and hot rooms
• Foundations of the mansio, the official guesthouse on Watling Street
• Small museum with jewellery, pottery and a Roman milestone fragment
• Lead figurine of an African warrior and painted wall plaster
• Free entry to the open-air site

Founded

1949

Operated by

English Heritage (site owned by the National Trust)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry to the site and museum is free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

There is no wheelchair access to the Roman remains, and the museum has one step at the entrance. Toilets are available only while the museum is open.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Leave the eastbound A5 at Wall, near Lichfield. The site is on the National Cycle Network.

Amenities & dining

Toilets are open only during museum opening hours. No shop or café is listed.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit