Townsend has derived a relation between mean vorticity and Reynolds stress valid in the wall layer of a turbulent flow. The vorticity Ω appears as a function of the local stress τ and its gradient. Such a relation is better suited for use in the vorticity equation than in the momentum equation. The Rayleigh problem, whose vorticity equation is simply ∂Ω/∂t = ∂2τ/∂y2, is introduced as a setting for Townsend's theory. Certain wall speed programmes are shown to generate Rayleigh layers that are exactly self-similar in the fully turbulent part of the flow. Those layers correspond to Clauser's equilibrium boundary layers. A formal analogy between the two families is found; the analogy becomes quantitatively exact in the limit of infinite Reynolds number. The Rayleigh problem is posed in similarity form. A composite non-linear, ordinary differential equation for the stress profile is deduced from a two-layer model incorporating Townsend's relation for the wall layer and Clauser's constant eddy-viscosity assumption for the outer layer. The profile depends on the wall-speed programme selected and on two empirical constants: the combination λ = √(k)/k of Clauser's k and Kármán's k, and Townsend's constant B. Closed-form solutions for arbitrary λ and B are obtained in two important cases: constant wall stress, analogous to constant pressure above a boundary layer, and zero wall stress, corresponding to continuous separation. The velocity profile in the wall region of a continuously separating Rayleigh layer is found to depend sensitively on B.