Overview

Britain’s tiny Jewish community (about 263,000 people) is the oldest non-Christian minority in the country. In 1656 Jews returned to England after an absence of nearly 400 years and the Jewish community has enjoyed a history of continuous settlement in England since 1656, a record unmatched anywhere else in Europe. Jewish Heritage in Britain and Ireland celebrates in full colour the undiscovered heritage of Anglo-Jewry. First published in 2006, it remains the only comprehensive guide to historic synagogues and sites in the British Isles, based on an authoritative survey carried out with the support of English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The guide is simple to use, covering more than 300 sites, organised on a region-by-region basis. Each section highlights major Jewish landmarks, ranging from Britain’s oldest synagogue, Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London, through the Georgian gems of the West Country to the splendid High Victorian “cathedral synagogues” of Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool and Glasgow. Relics of Anglo-Jewry’s medieval past are explored in York, Lincoln and Norwich, and venerable burial grounds with Hebrew inscriptions are found in the unlikeliest of places. Curious oddities are not to be missed, including a 19th-century private penthouse synagogue in Brighton and an Egyptian-style Mikveh [ritual bath] in Canterbury. The new edition has been completely revised and features many new images including, for the first time, of sites in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The easy-to-follow heritage trails around former Jewish quarters in the major cities have been updated and full postcodes are now given for SatNav users.

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9781848022379

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Reviews

... it packs in a surprising amount of material for its size. -- Julian Treuherz Context 143, March 2016 This updated and amended guidebook is essential reading for anyone wishing to visit Jewish sites in Britain and Ireland and is interested in the history and topography of the Jewish community. ... This updated guide creates a unique and important source of information on the heritage of the Jewish community. ... this revised guide should be on the book shelves of every Jewish home and all students of Jewish history in Britain and Ireland. -- Ken Marks Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, Volume 60, March 16 This new volume has extended, deepened and widened the original through new research and investigation, and what we have now is a comprehensive, extensively illustrated geographical survey by the UK's expert in the field. ... Densely packed yet portable, this volume certainly deserves a place among all your other architectural guides, on the shelf or in the car. -- Judith Leigh SPAB, Suumer 2016

... it packs in a surprising amount of material for its size. -- Julian Treuherz Context 143, March 2016

Author Information

Sharman Kadish is author and Director at Jewish Heritage UK.

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