The project to restore the 19th century synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and develop it as a Welsh Jewish Heritage Center is progressing. Around 500 people attended a special Open Day there earlier this month to see inside the building for the first time since it was closed in 2006.
They also could visit the nearby Soar community centre to meet the project’s professional team, view the architect’s plans, and examine artefacts associated with the former Jewish community.
The synagogue was built in the 1870s and is the oldest purpose-built synagogue surviving in Wales. After the congregation left in 1983, its condition deteriorated.
Visitors included representatives of families who had once attended the synagogue. Others had various associations with the site including the former owner of the gym that was the building’s final use before it closed.
“Many of those who attended brought their own memories and memorabilia associated with Jewish life in Wales, and these were recorded by members of the team, as were general comments and feedback on the project itself,” the Foundation for Jewish Heritage (FJH), which is spearheading the project, said.
The FJH purchased the building in 2019 and the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, visited in 2021. The following year, the Foundation secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Welsh government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council to develop the plans.
“The numbers coming through the door surprised us all,” FJH CEO Michale Mail said in a statement. “And the stories that people brought with them of being Jewish in Wales, or their experience of the Jewish community, were fascinating and moving. We felt very encouraged that the project was truly widely welcomed and would be widely supported.”