A historic but derelict former synagogue in Wales has received a grant to covert it into apartments.
The Welsh government awarded a £95,000 grant toward the conversion of the Old Synagogue on Bryntirion Road in the town of Merthyr Tydfil — the oldest synagogue in Wales — as part of what was described as “a wider round of £1.2 million of funding for listed historical buildings across Wales [that] include places of historical worship and cultural importance.”
The funding “aims to widen public access to different kinds of architecture while creating longer-term uses for them for future generations to enjoy them.”
The synagogue, a neo-Gothic style style building constructed in the 1870s, is a Grade II listed building, but already in 2009 planning permission had been granted to convert it into dwellings.
The London Jewish Chronicle wrote at the time that the building, empty since the early 1980s, was degrading and a target for vandals.
The neo-Gothic building has been used as a Christian community centre and a gym since the synagogue closed in 1983. It is thought to be the only synagogue with a Welsh dragon as part of its architecture.
One of the conditions of planning permission is that the synagogue’s Magen David stained glass windows are repaired but not replaced.
1 comment on “Wales: Former synagogue gets reconversion grant”
This is great news. Jewish Heritage UK has been concerned about the future of this building for some years – since the development scheme went on hold in 2009. We welcome the injection of funding into saving the most important historic synagogue building in Wales and finding a sustainable future use for it. Gothic Revival synagogues are very rare in the UK. Merthyr’s delightful Disney-world turreted example is therefore one of the most important historic synagogues in the country.
Sharman Kadish, Director, Jewish Heritage UK