“Urban explorers” broke into the abandoned Greenbank Synagogue in Liverpool, England and one of them — who goes by the name “The Little Nuisance” — crashed through the sanctuary’s fragile ceiling. He dangled from the gaping hole and nearly fell onto the sanctuary floor 12 meters below.
Little Nuisance — described by the Daily Mail online as an “18-year-old thrill-seeker” — entered the building with three friends and posted video on his YouTube channel. He called the experience “f–king hilarious.” The entire video lasts more than 6 minutes and shows them scaling the walls and braking in, as well as the state of the building — the fall comes at around 3:53.
The Greenbank synagogue has been abandoned since 2008 and is supposed to be converted into luxury apartments. The red-brick, art deco synagogue — a Grade 2 listed building — was designed by the noted Liverpool architect Sir Ernest Alfred Shennan and built in 1936/37. It served its congregation until January 2008, when dwindling numbers forced the community to move and close the building.
Urbex — exploring and photographing ruins and abandoned buildings and other sites — has become a popular hobby.
The Greenbank synagogue apparently is a site favored by Urbexers — we published links to detailed Urbex photo documentation made in February 2014 that showed the sanctuary and other rooms and spaces and focused on both the architecture and the deteriorating state of the building — broken wooden flooring; leaking ceilings; crumbling walls and ceiling, etc.
We also shared this Urbex video, from February 2017.
The most recent video shows a much greater state of deterioration.
Read the Daily Mail online article about Little Nuisance
Read our earlier posts featuring the Greenbank synagogue