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Manchester Jewish Museum

Coordinates: 53°29′45″N 2°14′18″W / 53.495833°N 2.238333°W / 53.495833; -2.238333
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Manchester Jewish Museum
The Manchester Jewish Museum, in 2015
Manchester Jewish Museum is located in Greater Manchester
Manchester Jewish Museum
Location of the museum in Greater Manchester
Former names
  • Sha'are Tephillah Synagogue
  • Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue
Location190 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester, England
Coordinates53°29′45″N 2°14′18″W / 53.495833°N 2.238333°W / 53.495833; -2.238333
TypeJewish history museum
Websitemanchesterjewishmuseum.com
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameManchester Jewish Museum
TypeListed building
Designated3 October 1974
Reference no.1208472[1]
Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue
The former synagogue, now museum, in 2008
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism (former)
RiteNusach Sefard
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusSynagogue (1874–1984)
Status
  • Closed (as a synagogue);
  • Repurposed (as a museum)
Location
Location190 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester
Architecture
Architect(s)Edward Salomons
TypeSynagogue architecture
StyleMoorish Revival
Completed1874
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The Manchester Jewish Museum is a Jewish history museum, located on 190 Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, England, in the United Kingdom. The museum occupies the site of a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, the place of worship for the Congregation of Spanish & Portuguese Jews, called the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, also the Sha'are Tephillah Synagogue. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite from premises located at 18 Moor Lane, Kersal, Salford.[2]

The building, used as a synagogue from 1874 until 1984, was listed as a Grade II* building in 1974.[1][3]

History

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The former synagogue for Spanish and Portuguese Jews was completed in 1874. However, the building became redundant through the migration of the Jewish population away from the Cheetham area further north to Prestwich and Whitefield. It re-opened as a museum in March 1984 telling the story of the history of Jewish settlement in Manchester and its community over more than 200 years.

The museum reopened on 2 July 2021 following a ££6 million redevelopment and extension. The museum includes a new gallery, vegetarian café, shop and learning studio and kitchen, as well as complete restoration of the former Spanish and Portuguese synagogue.[4]

Following completion of the renovation works, Manchester Jewish Museum won two awards at the annual British Construction Industry Awards (Cultural and Leisure Project of the Year and Best Small Project of the Year) alongside architects Citizens Design Bureau and structural engineers Buro Happold.[5]

The museum holds over 31,000 items in its collection, documenting the story of Jewish migration and settlement in Manchester. It includes over 530 oral history testimonies, over 20,000 photographs, 138 recorded interviews with Holocaust survivors and refugees and other objects, documents and ephemera.[6]

Moorish Revival building

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The 1874 synagogue was completed in the Moorish Revival style, designed by Edward Salomons, a prominent Manchester architect. Although the synagogue was not the largest or most magnificent of the world's many Moorish Revival synagogues, which include the opulent Princes Road Synagogue in Liverpool, it was considered to be a "jewel".[7] The style, a homage to the architecture of Moorish Spain, perhaps seemed particularly fitting for the home of a Sephardic congregation. The two tiers of horseshoe windows on the façade were emblematic of the style, and the recessed doorway and arcade of five windows on the floor above the entrance are particularly decorative. Inside, a horseshoe arch frames the heichal and polychrome columns support the galleries. The mashrabiyya latticework on the front doors is particularly fine.[7][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Historic England (3 October 1974). "Manchester Jewish Museum (Grade II*) (1208472)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue". Jewish Communities and Records - UK. JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Manchester Jewish Museum". Visit Manchester. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Manchester Jewish Museum reopens after £6m refurb". BBC News. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Manchester Jewish Museum wins two awards following renovation". Manshester.co.uk. 19 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Manchester Jewish Museum — Collection". Manchester Jewish Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b Meek, H. A. (1995). The Synagogue. London: Phaidon. pp. 199, 202.
  8. ^ Williams, Bill (1976). The Making of Manchester Jewry 1740-1875. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-0631-7.
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