The Manchester Jewish Museum is counting down until it reopens July 2, after being closed for two years for a large-scale expansion and redevelopment, which has included construction of a modern new wing and full restoration of the Grade II listed Victorian synagogue where it has been housed.
The builders officially handed over the complex to the Museum at the end of April, formally presenting the keys to the museum’s Chief Executive Max Dunbar and staff.
The only Jewish Museum in the UK outside of London, the Manchester museum opened in the synagogue in 1984. The £6 million development project is doubling its size and adding new galleries and a revamped core exhibit. The project received a £2.89 million National Lottery grant.
The museum’s Spanish and Portuguese synagogue was built in 1874 and closed for worship in 1983.
“Our magnificently restored synagogue is a rare gem and is in itself a living artefact telling the story of Jewish migration from the 1870s,” Dunbar said in a news release. “It will sit alongside our contemporary extension, the design of which has been inspired by our synagogue’s stunning Moorish architecture. In addition to a new world-class exhibition space, our extension boasts a café and a learning kitchen where Jewish culture can be experienced and shared through food.”
Last year, during the construction and restoration of the building, workers found a time capsule — a large, sealed glass jar tightly stuffed with documents, newspapers, and even some coins — hidden in the wall near the ark, placed there when the building was construction.
The museum said the capsule and its contents will form part of the museum’s new core exhibit.
In the final run-up to the opening, it said, the museum’s curator, Alex Cropper, meeting and interviewing past congregants of the synagogue:
capturing oral histories and memories to add to the museum’s collection of over 500 oral histories that reveal stories of Jewish Manchester. A selection of these will feature in the museum’s new exhibition exploring the universal themes of journeys, communities and identities.
In addition, the Museum announced that an art and film installation by Turner-prize-winner Laurie Prouvost and inspired by the synagogue’s history will form part of the opening events. Installed and partly shot in the synagogue’s women’s gallery, it will have as part of its focus the voices and experiences of women congregants.
A key factor in the Museum redevelopment has been a full restoration of the synagogue, with a focus on the interior decorations and painting, and also the stained glass windows.
The Museum has posted an informative article about the delicate process of restoring the windows, featuring an interview with Stephen Evans, from stained glass restoration experts Recclesia Ltd., about the process — which he said was a complex undertaking.
[The Manchester windows] were a challenge as in they were circular panels that were housed in a metal frame and surrounded by stone. Each window was made up of 5 sections – circular centre and four arched quadrant surrounds which took time to rebuild. The panels were also heavily soiled with a mixture of grime and exhaust dust which took a lot of cleaning! Some of the broken glass in the panels […] are now obsolete and it was difficult to find a good match, but we managed to find some really good matches in our extensive stock.
He described the steps in restoring stained glass windows as follows:
It begins with a study of the window and, wherever feasible, its history is undertaken to determine the original designer and maker of the windows and an idea of the original installation dates. The windows are then surveyed and we look for evidence of any damage such as fractured glass and lead frameworks. Once a window has been identified for restoration it will be removed from its frame and transported back to the conservation studio. Here the windows will be photographed and we take a rubbing of the window to trace all the lines of the lead framework. The glass is then stripped away from the lead frame and cleaned using de-ionised water, cotton buds and soft rags – it’s all very painstaking. Any replacement glass is matched and replaced. If any glass pieces require painting then our studio artist will paint the new pieces and fire them in a kiln. This process is repeated until we have an exact match. Once the glass is cleaned it is re-assembled into the lead framing. The last process is a messy one. The windows need to be weather proofed and this is done using cement and then left to dry. The window is given a final polish and clean and returned to its original resting place to be admired for many years to come.
Read our article from September 2020 about the time capsule
Read the April 30 news release from the Museum, about handing over the keys
Read the article about restoring the stained glass windows
Read our
2 comments on “UK: Manchester Jewish Museum to reopen July 2 after two years of expansion and redevelopment — read details of how its stained glass windows were restored”
is there also a library with jewhis subject ?
We visited the museum in September of 2015 and it was a special experience, with a wonderful (private) tour. Also, the personnel were very friendly and we bought several interesting books in the gift shop.