Leicester - Jewry Wall Site & St. Nicholas Church 1970s

Postcard

 

• Picture / Image:  Jewry Wall Site and St. Nicholas Church, Leicester
• Publisher:  none given
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  3p ultramarine 2bands Machin GBX855
• Postmark(s):  Leicester 8 Aug 1976
• Sent to:  Scunthorpe, Lincs.
• Notes & Key words: 

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information:

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The Jewry Wall in Leicester, England is the remaining wall of the public baths of Roman Leicester 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 name of the wall does not relate to Leicester's Jewish community, which was expelled from the city in mediaeval times. It is thought most likely 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, or in the area between it and the back of the wall.

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.

St Nicholas' Church is an Anglican parish church, and the oldest place of worship, in Leicester, England.

It is situated next to the Jewry Wall, the remnant of the city's Roman baths. To the east is the site of the Roman forum.

Today, the church lies just outside the city's inner ring road. Despite being some distance from the campus, it is the official church of the University of Leicester.

Parts of the church fabric certainly date from circa AD 880, and a recent architectural survey suggested possible Roman building work. The tower is Norman. By 1825 the church was in an extremely poor condition, and plans were made for its demolition. Instead, it was extensively renovated between 1875 and 1884, including the building of a new north aisle. Renovation continued into the twentieth century.

The organ was built in 1890 by the local firm of J. Porritt, and incorporates pipework of an earlier organ by an unknown builder dating from the 1830s. In 1975, the organ was cleaned and overhauled by J. W. Walker & Sons at a cost of around £4,500, and has continued to be refurbished periodically since then.

The church has three bells, dated 1617, 1656 and 1710, that had been taken down from the tower in 1949 and replaced by one big bell. As part of the millennium celebrations, the three bells were rehung at a total cost of £5,848, paid for by an appeal. Because the tower is not very strong, they were re-hung for stationery chiming (not swung). The smallest bell, which was cracked, was repaired, and all three bells were taken away to Hayward Mills Associates Bell Hangers of Nottingham. They were returned to the church in July 2002, and were rung to welcome Queen Elizabeth II on her Jubilee Visit to Leicester.