Six synagogues are on Historic England’s current register of “Heritage at Risk (HAR),” released in late 2021.
Covering various categories of buildings and other places that are listed as Grades I and II heritage sites, the Heritage Risk Program “identifies those sites that are most at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.”
The HAR Register is updated every year –in the current list, there are a total of 4,985 entries, including 923 places of worship.
Buildings listed as at risk can stay on the list while repairs are carried out, to be removed when works are completed. Synagogues may thus have been on the HAR register for years. There are links to the full Historic England description of the synagogues on the HAR pages.
The synagogues on the current list include:
The Bradford Synagogue (Reform), Bowland Street – Bradford
A Grade-II listed building, built in 1880-81 in Moorish style, designed by Francis and Thomas Healey. Second oldest surviving purpose-built Reform synagogue in England. Historic England reports it to be in “fair” condition, stating that “[r]epair works to the roofs and rainwater goods were carried out in 2015 with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s former Grants for Places of Worship scheme. An outbreak of dry rot has been treated and the building is being monitored to ensure that it does not recur.”
Synagogue and congregation web site
Bradford Jewish heritage web site
The Synagogue of Withington Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, Old Lansdowne Road, Didsbury – Manchester
Red brick synagogue, built in 1925-6 in the Art Deco/Neoclassical style, by Delissa Joseph under the supervision of Joseph Sunlight. Historic England reports that it is in “generally in good condition” but in “slow decay.” It suffers from “some water ingress from concealed parapet gutters and failing downpipes. A Minor Repair Grant from the Taylor Review Pilot was received in 2019 to help with maintenance.”
Sandys Row Synagogue, Sandys Row, Spitalfields E1 – Tower Hamlets, London
A former Protestant chapel that was transformed into a synagogue in the mid 19th century. The HAR listing describes it in “poor” condition and “in slow decay.” But it says:
Major re-roofing and high- level brick repairs were completed in 2011 with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England. At the same time emergency works were carried out to temporarily restrain the bowing narrow brick piers to the front elevation windows until funding for permanent repairs can be found. The flat roofs over the western end of the synagogue are also in need of attention and in 2020 Historic England awarded a Covid-19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Response Fund grant for their repair.
Click here to read a JHE Have Your Say essay about the synagogue, by Rachel Lichtenstein
Higher Crumpsall Synagogue, Bury Old Road, Broughton Park – Salford (Manchester)
Built in 1928 and designed by Pendleton and Dickinsonin in a modernist-neoclassical style with a white stone exterior and elaborate interior decoration. It has been on the HAR list for several years. HAR lists the synagogue in “poor” condition and “in slow decay,” despite work funded through the Historic England / National Lottery Heritage Fund Repair Grant for Places of Worship scheme that in 2006 addressed dry rot and stabilisation issues. “There is still work to be done on the higher level stonework,” it says. In 2017, the dwindling congregation that used the synagogue left, and it was taken over by a growing Haredi community.
Read our 2017 report about the synagogue
19, Princelet Street, Spitalfields E1 – Tower Hamlets, London
A rare example of a surviving small synagogue that was added in 1869 to a terraced house built in 1719. HAR lists in in poor condition and “in slow decay” but says, “The Local Authority is working with the owner and other local stakeholders to secure the long-term future and the full repair of the building.”
Greenbank Drive Synagogue, Greenbank Drive, Sefton Park – Liverpool
A red-brick synagogue 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. Plans to turn it into apartments have long been stalled. HAR describes it as in “very bad” condition and in “[i]mmediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric.” It appears to be a favourite for “urbex” break-ins — in 2019, one of them crashed through the ceiling. We have written frequently about the building.