Singers Hill Synagogue

Singers Hill Synagogue
Singers Hill Synagogue
	Singers Hill Synagogue in 2002
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Yossi Jacobs
Status	Active
Location
Location	26, 26A and 26B Blucher Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, B1 1HL
Country	United Kingdom
	Location of the synagogue in the West Midlands
Geographic coordinates	52°28′32″N 1°54′13″W / 52.4755°N 1.9037°W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Yeoville Thomason
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Classical Revival; Romanesque Revival; Italianate;
Date established	1780 (as a congregation)
Completed	1856
Materials	Red brick
Website
	birminghamsynagogue.com
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	The Synagogue
Type	Listed building
Designated	21 January 1970;; 7 July 1982 (updated);
Reference no.	1075712

The Singers Hill Synagogue, officially the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 26, 26A and 26B Blucher Street, in the Birmingham city centre, in the West Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation dates from 1780 and worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite.

The synagogue building was listed as a Grade II* building in 1970.^[2]

History

The forebears of the congregation commenced in 1780 when the community's first synagogue was completed in an area at the time known as The Froggery. The congregation subsequently moved to a synagogue in Hurst Street in 1791; and the Severn Street Synagogue, which survives as a masonic hall, was completed in 1809; and remodelled in 1827, following a fire.^[1] The fourth and current synagogue building was completed in 1856, designed by Yeoville Thomason.^[3]

The 1856 building features "a Norman-wheel window in a building design in red and yellow brick, which combined Classical Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Italianate details, and used a classical basilica plan, with a central Bimah".^[4]^[5]

The stained glass windows were commissioned from Hardman Studios in 1956-1963, in a process overseen by the former chairman of the Synagogue's council, Joseph Cohen.^[6]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Shulman, David (18 April 2024). "Birmingham Hebrew Congregation". Jewish Communities and Records - UK. JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b Historic England. "The Synagogue (1075712)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
^ "Jewish Birmingham". Birmingham City Council.
^ "Architecture". Singers Hills Congregation. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2006.
^ "360 degree internal views". BBC.
^ The Stained Glass Windows. Birmingham Hebrew Congregation. 1963.
^ "Looking at Buildings". Pevsner Architectural Guides. Archived from the original on 5 January 2005.