Two landmarked historic synagogues in England — in Reading and in Liverpool — have received government grants to repair their roofs, as part of the government-sponsored Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund (LPOW), which “was set up to help make the UK’s listed places of worship weather-tight, safe and open for use. It is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.”
The grants were announced in July. (We would be interested to learn if there are similar grants programs aimed specifically at fixing the roofs of historic houses of worship in other countries.)
The Jewish community in Reading received £94,800 grant to restore the roof of the century-old orthodox synagogue on Goldsmid Road, West Reading. Built by William G. Lewton and dating from 1900, the Grade 2 listed synagogue is a red-brick building with Moorish-style arches over its narrow top floor windows and a distinctive, delicate-looking cupola.
“This grant is a lifeline for us, allowing our lovely synagogue – the only purpose-built Orthodox synagogue in Berkshire – to serve the generations still to come as beautifully as it has served those of the past,” Reading Hebrew Congregation president Sarah Firsht told local media.
In Liverpool, £30,500 was awarded to the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation for the repair of the Princes Road synagogue. The ornate, Grade I listed red-brick building, designed by George Audsley and opened in 1874, was described by Historic England as one of England’s 10 most beautiful synagogues and the “most lavish High Victorian Oriental synagogue in England.”
The grants to the synagogues are part of nearly £23 million in PLOW fund grants of between £10,000 and ¢100,000 to 401 places of worship around the UK.
See article in GetReading news site
See Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund
1 comment on “UK: Two listed synagogues get roof restoration grants”
Roof is very essential for the people and it should be strong, so that so that it don’t have any destruction.