Jesmond Synagogue, now known as Byzantine House, is a former Orthodox

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located on Eskdale Terrace, in the

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

neighbourhood of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, in northeast

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, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1914, the congregation worshiped in the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

rite Rite may refer to: Religion * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite (Christianity), sacred rituals in the Christian religion * Ritual family, Christian liturgical traditions; often also called ''liturgical rites'' * Catholic particular ch ...

, until its closure in 1986. The synagogue building was completed in 1915 and was used up until 1986, when a new synagogue building was completed in Culzean Park.

History

It was originally conceived as a branch of the Leazes Park Synagogue for families who had moved out of the city centre, and was founded in 1914 as an independent congregation. The synagogue, on in Jesmond, was built in 1914–15 by Marcus Kenneth Glass in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

interpretation of

Byzantine Revival Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Or ...

style. The porch has a triple arcade and columns with lotus bud capitals. A large, sunburst, stained-glass window fills the huge Byzantine arch of the facade. The brickwork is coursed with alternating beige and red stripes. The synagogue was closed in 1986. The exterior was carefully conserved; the interior was gutted and renovated for use as a school. It formed part of the Newcastle High School for Girls until 2016, when approval was granted for its conversion into flats. A commemorative plaque marking the building's previous use as a synagogue was unveiled in July 2019.

References

1914 establishments in England 1986 disestablishments in England 20th-century synagogues in the United Kingdom Art Deco architecture in England Art Deco synagogues Ashkenazi Jewish culture in England Ashkenazi synagogues in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Byzantine Revival architecture in the United Kingdom Byzantine Revival synagogues Former Orthodox synagogues in England Jewish organizations established in 1914 Religion in Tyne and Wear Synagogues completed in 1915 {{UK-synagogue-stub

History

See also

References