The historic little Jewish cemetery in Penzance (Cornwall), England was rededicated last week after its restoration, and will be open to the public. A second dedication ceremony will take place on May 18.
The Cornishman reports that about two dozen members of the Jewish community in Cornwall in attended a ceremony on March 13, during which a Torah scroll was paraded around the cemetery.
Believed to have been founded in the 1740s, the cemetery has been described as “by far the finest” of the 25 Georgian Jewish cemeteries in Britain outside of London and is listed by English Heritage as a Grade 2 heritage site. It includes about 50 well preserved gravestones and is surrounded by a high stone wall dating from 1845. It also has a ceremonial hall/tahara house.
As we reported in February 2015, the cemetery received a £13,000 grant from the national lottery to carry out repair work, which included repairing the walls and ground surface, including floor slabs at the entrance, positioning a ramp for wheelchair access and reinforcing some of the gravestones.
The Cornishman quoted Leslie Lipert, treasurer of the Friends of the Penzance Cemetery, as saying: “The restoration, supported by the generous contributions of the Heritage Lottery Fund and others has revived Jewish and Cornish history and strengthened links between the new Jewish community and the wider Cornish population. It connects both with a shared past.”
The last Jews in Penzance moved away in around 1913. The long-disused cemetery, accessed via a passage between 19 and 20 Leskinnick Terrace, is owned by the Jewish Board of Deputies (BOD) but is maintained by the Penzance town clerk’s office and Penlee House Museum and Gallery.
Advance appointments to visit can be arranged through Penlee House (01736 363625).
Read the article and see a photo gallery of the event in The Cornishman
Web site of the Friends of the Penzance Jewish Cemetery