The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue and Jewish life in London. It was destroyed during World War II, in the Blitz.
The earliest Ashkenazi synagogue constructed in London, after the return of Jews to England in the 17th century, was built about 1690 at Duke’s Place, north of Aldgate. In 1696-7, the synagogue also acquired a burial ground, at Alderney Road.
The congregation grew, and in 1722 a new building was erected with the cost of £2,000 being borne by businessman and philanthropist, Moses Hart. The building was consecrated on Rosh Hashana (September 18, 1722). An enlarged building, designed by George Dance the Elder, was consecrated on August 29, 1766. The order of prayers for the inauguration was the first printed publication of the synagogue, and also the first publication to name it explicitly as ’The Great Synagogue’.
Between 1788 and 1790, the third synagogue was built on the site. Unusually for the times, the principal donor was a woman, Judith Hart Levy, a daughter of Moses Hart, who subscribed £4,000. The architect was James Spiller. The building was in the classical style identified with John Adam. It was redecorated and repaired in 1832 and 1852 by John Walen, and restored again with small renovations in 1899 and 1930.
The Royal Dukes of Cambridge, Cumberland, and Essex, sons of George III, visited the Great Synagogue of London in 1809. There they were seated on elegant Egyptian revival chairs as they watched the religious service. The synagogue was also visited around this period, during his schooldays, by the writer Leigh Hunt, who wrote ’I took pleasure in witnessing the semi-Catholic pomp of their service and in hearing their fine singing, not without something of a constant astonishment at their wearing their hats’.
The synagogue was destroyed on May 10, 1941.
