The Oldest Synagogue in the UK

Built in 1701, Bevis Marks is the oldest surviving synagogue in the UK. It was preceded by a house in Creechurch Lane in London which was used as a place of worship by Jews returning to Britain after having been granted permission to do so by Oliver Cromwell.

By the turn of the century the Spanish and Portuguese congregation meeting there had outgrown Creechurch Lane and so Bevis Marks was built to accommodate its needs.

The new synagogue attracted a number of notable figures including Disraeli and Sir Moses Montefiore. Today it still attracts both visitors and congregants alike.

For a number of years Bevis Marks played an important role in helping Jews around the world such as aiding a seven year old child called Moses de Paz who fled Gibraltar in 1777 in order to avoid an enforced conversion.

For many years it was very much the centre of the Sephardic community in London. However, by the mid 19 th century the congregation began to decline.

Bevis Marks can be found in a secluded courtyard in the City of London and although it has been carefully restored over the years, its interior has hardly changed since it was first built in the 18 th century.

It is strikingly beautiful inside with clear influence from Sir Christopher Wren in its architecture, brass candelabra and a particularly fine collection of Cromwellian and Queen Anne furniture.

Today Bevis Marks boasts a kosher restaurant in its main hall and still holds regular services, as it has done for the last three hundred years.

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