Historical Jewish London Walk

Armed with an A-Z, head to the City of London, once the site of the Old Jewry area where the earliest Jewish community once lived. The hauntingly beautiful Bevis Marks Synagogue on Heneage Lane should be your first destination. It was built in 1701 and modelled after the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. Built inside a courtyard, at a time when synagogues were not permitted on public streets, it is still in use and open for visits and now sits in the shadow of the Swiss Re building – or the Gherkin.

From the City it’s a short walk via Whitechapel High Street to the East End and Brick Lane once the hub of immigrant Jewish life in the 19th and 20th centuries. The buildings here are an interesting example of the constant cycle of immigration to the area: what is now the Brick Lane Mosque – the Bengali Jamia Masjid – was once the Spitalfields Great Synagogue in the 19th century. But even before that it was a Methodist chapel, and before that a church for Huguenots escaping persecution in France.

Slightly further north up Brick Lane and just off it is Princelet Street, where at number 19 (The Museum of Immigration & Diversity), you can see a hidden London gem. Built in 1719, this Grade II listed building was originally a Huguenot silk merchant’s home. In the 19th century, Jewish residents lived here – and in 1869, they built a tiny synagogue in the back garden, which still stands today., It’s best to call ahead to check the opening times – because of the fragility of the interior only 40 people can enter at one time.

Back to the Whitechapel Road, and walking further east, the Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue on Fieldgate Street, founded in 1899, is a tiny building dwarfed by the giant East London Mosque now beside it. It still holds services today.

If you’re in need of refreshment at any time of the day (and that’s 24 hours!), stop off at Brick Lane’s most famous institution, the Brick Lane Bagel Bar. Run by Israelis, the fare includes favourites such as salt beef or smoked salmon bagels, chopped herring, apple strudel and cheesecake.