- Dalston Synagogue
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The Dalston Synagogue was a Jewish place of worship in Newington Green, North London, from about 1885 to 1970. It was also known as the Poets Road Synagogue and was not in Dalston, another area of north-east London. This became one of the leading synagogues of London.
Contents
History
Jews fleeing the pogroms of the Russian Empire, and those beginning to leave the East End of London and move northwards towards Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill, established a congregation in the neighbourhood by 1876. This formed a United Synagogue[1], and its Victorian Gothic building was erected in Poets Road in 1885.[2]
Jacob Koussevitzsky was its cantor from 1936[2] (though another source says only the 1950s[1]); his family, also transliterated "Kusevitsky", is a significant one in Jewish music.
At its height, the Poets Road Synagogue had hundreds of worshippers [1]; it closed in the late 1960s, as the remaining Jewish population moved on further afield.[1] The synagogue site was eventually sold and the beautiful building, along with its stained glass windows, was demolished in 1970 and replaced by a block of council flats, leaving no trace of the Jewish life which existed in this area.
Religious neighbours
Other religious institutions existed nearby. The original Adath Israel orthodox congregation was founded in this area and its first permanent building was in Alma Road, off Green Lanes, before moving on towards Stoke Newington and the other side of Clissold Park in the 1950s. From the mid seventeenth century, Newington Green had been known as an area tolerant of religious minorities, specifically Dissenters, and the church on the green reflected that. Its minister from 1947, John Reece Walker, was known as an interfaith worker, and "made a remarkable contribution to the cause of good relations between Christians and Jews in North London".[3] Also on the green was the China Inland Mission, founded in 1865 and its headquarters built in 1895. St Matthias, one of London's foremost High Churches, was built nearby from 1849–53,[4][5] Pre-dating all of these is the impressive Anglican church in the parish of Stoke Newington; it is dedicated to St Mary, as is the "new" (1858) church opposite, by Sir George Gilbert Scott.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Peter Renton, The Lost Synagogues of London, Tymsder Publishers, 2000
- ^ a b Allardyce, p39.
- ^ ch 8. Thorncroft, Michael (1958). Trust in Freedom: The Story of Newington Green Unitarian Church 1708 - 1958. London: Private publication for the trustees of the church. pp. 35.
- ^ Allardyce, p33.
- ^ a b 'Stoke Newington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 204-211. Accessed 29 May 2009.
Further reading
- The Village that Changed the World: A History of Newington Green London N16 by Alex Allardyce. Newington Green Action Group: 2008.
- Chapter titles: Beginnings, Kings and Treason; Dissenters, Academies and Castaways; The Chaste Old Bachelor of Newington Green; Enlightenment, Revolutions and Poets; Development, Destruction and Renewal.
- Peter Renton, The Lost Synagogues of London, Tymsder Publishers, 2000<
External links
- Dalston Synagogue on Jewish Communities and Records - UK (hosted by jewishgen.org), accessed 24 November 2010.
Categories:- Synagogues in London
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