Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue - Manchester, UK - Synagogues on Waymarking.com

Former SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE SYNAGOGUE, Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham.
(The first Sephardi synagogue in the UK built outside London.)

In 1874, Jewish traders from Gibraltar, Aleppo and Corfu established the first Sephardi congregation, in Manchester.

The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, by Edward Salamons, 1874-5, in what he described as ‘Saracenic’ and ‘Moresque’ style, appropriately recalling the ancient architecture of Moorish Spain, and avoiding either Gothic or classical with their respective Christian and pagan associations. The use of the style for the exterior as well as the interior is quite unusual.

Rescued after closure, the building is now used as the Manchester Jewish Museum, opened in 1984. It is not large, and set back from the line of the street, in warm red brick with stone dressings. In the projecting entrance bay a central door framed by a Moorish arch, below an arcade of five horseshoe-headed windows. On each side are two-storey bays, windows with ogee heads below and horseshoe heads above.

The interior has been kept much as it was when closed in 1981 apart from the removal of seats in the ladies’ gallery upstairs, where there are exhibitions. The pink and green colour scheme, with gilding, is a reconstruction of what was found beneath 20th century over-painting. First there is a foyer with the museum reception to the left and gallery staircase to the right and doors ahead leading to the main space. The open timber roof has ventilators with foliated moulding. Galleries on three sides, with an intricate ironwork parapet and cast-iron columns with fancy capitals. At the E end is a recess framed by a Moorish arch springing from paired columns, with a classical ARK, where the Torah scrolls are kept, with paired columns and a segmental arch. The columns have gilded capitals and pink marble shafts. BIMAH, from which the Torah is read, at the W end with openwork sides in Moorish designs. The bench seating with armrests is original. At the rear there is a converted SUCCAH, used during the festival of tabernacles, which had originally a removable roof.

Stained Glass: all early 20th century. Big circular East window with a Menorah, 1913. The rest downstairs show biblical landscapes and scenes, all seemingly by the same hand. Upstairs, East end: on one side the pillar of fire, on the other the pillar of cloud. Other windows have geometrical designs.

There are two plaques outside on each side of the door, one reads -

Building of special architectural or historic interest Grade II
SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE SYNAGOGUE 1874
A building with Spanish Saracenic motifs
Architect Edward Salomons (1828-1906)

The second one is a Blue Plaque (Waymark Code: WMDXDK) commemorating -

Dr Chaim Weizmann who lived in Manchester between 1904-1917.

Status: Converted to other use Denomination/Group: Other Address: Manchester Jewish Museum 190 Cheetham Hill Road Manchester, UK M8 8LW Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/08/2021 Hitman9956 visited it