Roman remains beside Watling Street in Staffordshire, where the footings of a bathhouse and a travellers' inn still show at ground level
Open accessNational Trust land — free to wander
The Romans called this place Letocetum; the village on top of it now is simply Wall. It grew up as a posting station on Watling Street, the great road running north-west from London towards Wroxeter, where officials and messengers could change horses, wash and stay the night. Two sets of foundations survive side by side in the grass: a mansio, the official inn that put travellers up, and a bathhouse, its heated rooms and cold plunge still readable in the low footings. A small museum nearby holds finds from the site. The National Trust owns the ground and English Heritage looks after the ruins, which are free to visit. Lichfield Cathedral and its old city are a few miles north-east, and the heathland of Cannock Chase rises to the north-west.
