The new Heritage Centre at the Victorian Grade II listed Highfield Street Synagogue in Leicester was officially opened in July, at a ceremony officiated by Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and attended by Leicester’s Mayor and other civic and religious leaders.
Rabbi Mirvis posted a video on Facebook and Twitter of him blessing the Mezuzah.
As we have written, work on the redevelopment was completed in 2021. It was funded by a £1.157 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as the centerpiece of a project called Sharing Jewish Heritage in Leicester.
“The Heritage centre’s opening comes as a bid to give the wider community more insight into the history and culture of Leicester’s Jewish Community, which currently stands at around 800 members,” the Leicester Mercury wrote.”
The synagogue, noted for its tower, was designed by Arthur Wakerley and built in 1897-8, and the school building, designed by Wakerley in the same style, was added in 1901.
The redevelopment design was carried out by the firm Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) and created an airy modern foyer with glazed walls that links the red brick Synagogue and its schoolrooms wing and provides other accommodation and facilities.
“Currently, the building welcomes over 2,500 visitors a year as well as being used for regular worship by the local Jewish Community,” the Leicester Hebrew Congregation web site states.
The historic school rooms have been transformed into a Heritage and Educational Centre to welcome the public, schools, and various other groups, responding to a high demand for Heritage visits. The Project has enhanced the Synagogue by refurbishing the main synagogue and Mikvah […], creating a new entrance and opening up spaces, previously unavailable to the public allowing for full disabled access to most areas.
The restored spaces support activities including hands-on sessions for schools, family activities, research sessions and Heritage Days. New displays including a timeline of the Community’s history will let people explore the Community’s past and interactive AV display will allow visitors to explore Jewish heritage and culture. Existing and new volunteers are trained to support visits. New links, engagement activities and partnerships will create a sustainable future for the building and the wider history of Leicester it represents.
“We are proud to welcome people of all faiths and none to our Heritage Centre, newly built, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund,” the web site states. “With the help of our ambassadors we are able to guide you through our heritage and religion.”
A book called “Sharing Our Heritage,” written by four co-authors and published by the Leicester Hebrew Congregation, was launched to coincide with the centre’s opening.
“Sharing Our Heritage is a book written by four people with one voice,” the cover blurb states.
They have pooled a wealth of research and personal experience to produce this inspiring history of the Leicester Hebrew Congregation. It takes the reader from the excitement of a new Heritage Centre, back in time to the early 1800s, charting two centuries of the LHC’s rich history, with many fluctuations in fortune along the way. It illustrates the spirit that lives within the LHC, a spirit that has enabled the congregation to survive when other provincial Jewish congregations have not.
1 comment on “UK Update: The new Jewish Heritage Centre at the nearly 125-year-old synagogue in Leicester has officially opened”
It’s great to see this project come to fruition at last.
Leicester Synagogue was threatened with closure in the late 1990s, early 2000s, thanks to the dwindling size of the local Jewish community. Like many other small communities in the UK, Leicester has been affected by migration, out to more distant suburbs and to elsewhere in the country and overseas, the death rate outstripping the birth rate and intermarriage. The historic synagogue was saved by Listing (Landmarking) in 2002 that opened up the availability of State and Lottery Funding.