Bevis Marks Synagogue

Bevis Marks Synagogue stands in a quiet courtyard off Bevis Marks in the City of London. Built in 1701, it is the oldest synagogue in Britain still used every week. The Grade I listed building belongs to the historic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community and follows the Sephardic rite. Its plain brick exterior hides an interior shaped by the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. The roof was rebuilt after a fire in 1738 and survived the London Blitz with only minor damage. The synagogue was created when crypto-Jews from Spain and Portugal settled openly after 1657. Samuel Pepys watched a service there in 1663 and Rabbi David Nieto took charge in 1698. A committee led by António Gomes Serra and Menasseh Mendes chose the Quaker builder Joseph Avis. The lease on the land came from Sir Thomas and Lady Pointz for £120 a year. Records show arrivals from Lisbon, Porto and remote Spanish border towns up to 1790. Inside, the wooden interior follows the 1675 Amsterdam model. The bimah stands at the centre beneath a flat ceiling supported by slender columns. Tall windows let in daylight over the polished pews. The women’s gallery runs round three sides on the first floor. The Ark holds silver ornaments and Torah scrolls brought here for safety during the Blitz.