44 C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 traditions and aesthetic preferences. Sectarian divisions led to fragmentation and greater assimilation, and communities moved from city centre to inner suburbs and then to outer suburbs, building new synagogues and abandoning old ones. Kadish considers the buildings in their international context, demonstrating the influence of European and, in the 20th century, American and Israeli models. She highlights many forgotten Jewish architects – David Mocatta, Nathan Joseph, his nephew Delissa Joseph, Edward Salomons, Davis & Emanuel, Joe Sunlight – in addition to non-Jewish architects, such as George Dance and the Audsleys. The great Anglo-Jewish families, the Rothschilds, Montefiores, Montagus and Wolfsons, put in frequent appearances as patrons. For Kadish, the synagogue expresses the identity of British Jewry, first wary of the attentions of wider society, and then growing in confidence. The earliest synagogues were inconspicuous: even the Bevis Marks synagogue, the first large synagogue built in London, is hidden in a courtyard down a back alley. The smaller synagogues of the 18th and early-19th centuries followed the simple styles of non-conformist chapels, but with Jewish emancipation came the ‘cathedral synagogues’ of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, built on prominent sites with imposing street frontages, domes, turrets and elaborate polychrome interiors. These grand buildings were assertions of difference as well as of self-assurance: the Gothic style was not favoured, as this was associated with Christianity. Synagogues were Italianate or Romanesque but eventually the Moorish style was preferred; sanctioned by the Sephardic tradition of medieval Spain, it was also adopted by the Ashkenazi congregations, following the influential Moorish synagogues of Berlin, Leipzig and Budapest. It had the advantage of providing opportunities for rich internal decoration in the Alhambra style popularised by Owen Jones. In the early 20th century some continued to build in Moorish style, and others ventured into a tepid version of art-deco, intriguingly linked by Kadish with cinema architecture (an area where Jews were prominent). The weak modernism of inter-war synagogues and the post-war buildings in sleek board-room style, featuring wood panelling, marble and chandeliers, signalled an increasingly uncertain sense of identity. British Jews lacked the boldness of the Americans, who commissioned synagogues from Gropius and Mendelsohn (Jewish refugees from Europe) and Frank LloydWright. Although the distinguished Jewish modernist architects Chermayeff, Lubetkin and Goldfinger came to Britain from Eastern Europe, they built no synagogues. Most of the better British modern-movement synagogues, such as those by Fritz Landauer and Ernst Freud, have been badly compromised or demolished. An interesting recent development is the expansion in the number of simple prayer-room synagogues, popular with today’s resurgent strict Orthodox groups in north London, Manchester and Gateshead: a return to the style of worship of new arrivals in the past. Many of the first East End synagogues used by these new arrivals had already been converted from their original function as Huguenot chapels. After their use as synagogues, they were put to secular use, or abandoned, when communities moved to the suburbs. But with immigration from Muslim countries, these prayer rooms are again being used for worship, this time as mosques. Finding new uses for the 19th-century cathedral synagogues, and the mid-20th century synagogues left stranded in the residential suburbs, will be a much greater challenge for conservation professionals. Kadish’s narrative is at times overwhelmed by detail, and there is too much dry architectural description and excessive reliance on quotations. But it is exceptionally well-illustrated and many will buy it just for the opportunity to see so many unfamiliar buildings, especially the interiors. A Jew was marooned on a desert island with two hills. On top of each hill he built a synagogue. He was finally rescued and was asked ‘What are those buildings?’ ‘My synagogues.’ ‘But why are there two?’ ‘The one I go to, and the one I don’t go to.’*With the help of this book, we can go to them all. Julian Treuherz, art historian and curator *Participants in the 2011 IHBC Annual School in Llandudno will recall Phil Roach, one of the speakers, telling a similar joke ofWelsh nonconformists. In December, Cathedral Communications will release the 19th annual edition of The Building Conservation Directory for 2012 and will send a copy to each IHBC member who has asked to receive relevant promotional mailings. The 2012 directory offers a wealth of useful information for the historic built environment professional including technical articles, extensive listings of specialist contractors and suppliers, relevant courses and events and sources of further information. The directory is supported by Cathedral’s website www.buildingconservation.com which certainly does merit a visit and should probably find its way on to your Google favourites list. Members who have asked not to receive promotional material but would like to receive future Cathedral Communications publications on the historic built environment should email Carmen Moran at membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk to change their mailing preference on the IHBC membership database. The Building Conservation Directory 2012
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