Jewish Heritage UK

SANDYS ROW TOPS THE LIST

May 2009

Sandys Row Synagogue

Sandys Row Synagogue
(Photo: Nigel Corrie © English Heritage )

Sandys Row Synagogue in the East End of London has received the largest single grant yet awarded to a Grade II Listed synagogue - £254,000 under the English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund joint Listed Places of Worship Repair Grant Scheme. Sandys Row is London's Dutch Ashkenazi synagogue, housed in a mid-eighteenth century former Huguenot chapel.

Synagogue architect Nathan S. Joseph remodelled the building in 1870 so that the Ark was on the Jerusalem wall. It has defied dire predictions and is now set to enjoy a new lease of life with a renewal both of its roof and of its membership. Jewish Heritage Director Sharman Kadish says, “We urge other historic synagogues to follow their example and benefit from the joint repair grant scheme operated by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund”.

Sandys Row has been included in a nationwide survey of historic synagogues that Jewish Heritage is currently undertaking as part of English Heritage's initiative on “Heritage at Risk”. Besides grant aid for repairs, training days are on offer to the Jewish community, aimed at people - often volunteers - who have the responsibility of looking after historic synagogues. The training days are being run by Jewish Heritage in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings' "Faith in Maintenance" project. For further information and a free DVD email director@jewish-heritage-uk.org or Tel: 0161 275 3611.

BRADFORD'S RARE STAR

April 2009

Bradford Reform Synagogue

Bradford Reform Synagogue
(Photo: Bob Skingle © English Heritage)

Bradford Reform Synagogue is now Grade II* Listed.

Thanks to the intervention of Jewish Heritage, Bradford’s Victorian Reform Synagogue (T.H. & F. Healey, 1881-2) has been awarded a coveted extra star, raising its Listed status from Grade II to Grade II*. Bradford is the second oldest surviving Reform synagogue in the UK and, unusually, predated the building of an Orthodox synagogue in the town. German-born Jews played an important role in the development of the local woollen trade. Jacob Moser (1839-1922), a founder of the Reform congregation and ardent early Zionist, became mayor of Bradford. Architecturally, Bradford is a very rare and well-preserved, small scale, provincial synagogue built in ‘Oriental’ style. It is perhaps the most thoroughgoing example in British synagogue architecture of the 19th century fashion for ‘Orientalism’ – both inside and out. Today, this little synagogue and its tiny congregation is a very important part of the multi-cultural heritage of Bradford and West Yorkshire.

ENGLISH HERITAGE SUPPORTS JEWISH HERITAGE

December 2008

Andy Burnham with Sharman Kadish

Andy Burnham and Sharman Kadish
(© Photo: Howard Barlow)

Launch of Places of Worship Support Officers Scheme.

Dr Sharman Kadish, Director of Jewish Heritage UK, with Andy Burnham, the new Minister for Culture, at the launch in Manchester of English Heritage's Places of Worship Support Officers Scheme. Under the Scheme, English Heritage is making available £1.5 million to part-fund 30 heritage professionals to help congregations of all faiths manage and maintain their historic places of worship.

JEWISH "CAPITAL OF CULTURE" 2008

February 2008

Liverpool Princes Road Synagogue

Liverpool's Princes Road Synagogue is now Grade I Listed.

The announcement by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport follows hard on the heels of the upgrade of the city's Art Deco Greenbank Drive Synagogue to Grade II*. The public recognition of Princes Road as 'one of Europe's finest cathedral synagogues' is most fitting in the year in which the City of Liverpool is designated 'European Capital of Culture'.

Princes Road is only the third British synagogue to achieve Grade I status. It has been brought into line with its younger 'sister', the New West End Synagogue in London, which became Grade I last summer, joining Britain's oldest synagogue, Bevis Marks. Liverpool is the first city outside London to have a Grade I Listed Synagogue.

EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE’S DECO SYNAGOGUE GAINS A STAR

February 2008

The New Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Liverpool’s Greenbank Drive has been upgraded to Grade II* by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport on the initiative of the Twentieth Century Society.

This enhanced Listed status is recognition of Greenbank Drive’s national significance as one of England’s overlooked interwar buildings. The synagogue, which officially closed in January, is amongst only a handful built in the 1920s and 30s which have remained largely unaltered, making it one of the best examples of the period in the country. Architect Alfred Shennan figures prominently in the civic history of Liverpool, especially for his work towards the construction of the Mersey Tunnel. This was his only synagogue and it is especially gratifying that its importance is being recognised in the year in which Liverpool celebrates as “European Capital of Culture”.

Jewish Heritage’s Director Dr Sharman Kadish welcomed this public acknowledgement of the special qualities of the building. She expressed the hope that the upgrade would advance the search for sustainable new uses that will preserve the integrity of its outstanding interior. “This hidden gem of Liverpool Jewry,” she said, “deserves our redoubled efforts to secure its future. Any scheme which retains the synagogue substantially intact is to be preferred over conversion for residential or other purposes, which would inevitably entail loss of historic fabric and character”.

Jewish Heritage is actively working with the Congregation, their architects, and other interested parties, to secure a fitting future for this exceptional building.