Jesmond Synagogue
Jesmond Synagogue, now known as Byzantine House, is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Eskdale Terrace, in the Jesmond neighbourhood of Newcastle upon Tyne, in northeast England, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1914, the congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite, 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.[1] HistoryIt 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.[2] The synagogue, on in Jesmond, was built in 1914–15 by Marcus Kenneth Glass in an Art Deco interpretation of Byzantine Revival style.[3] 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.[4] The synagogue was closed in 1986.[5] The exterior was carefully conserved; the interior was gutted and renovated for use as a school.[6] It formed part of the Newcastle High School for Girls until 2016, when approval was granted for its conversion into flats.[7][8] A commemorative plaque marking the building's previous use as a synagogue was unveiled in July 2019.[9] See alsoReferences
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