Tottenham’s Hidden Synagogue

Travelling along the High Road, you might miss this little building painted white. If you do spot it, though, you might wonder what it is or was …There are clues to its past use with the arched wooden doors, reminiscent of ones on a castle or religious building. 

(From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Behind the door of the small frontage of number 366a High Road, it opens up into a surprisingly large space which, until 2002, was used as a synagogue. 

(Interior of the synagogue. From the collections of Bruce Castle Museum and Archive: Photographer © Henry Jacobs).

From 1880 to 1914, England experienced a great influx of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe. The Tsarist regime of Russia began persecuting Jewish people, who fled for their lives from the bloody pogroms. The majority went to the USA, with 120,000 settling in England, mainly in the East End. They were received with little sympathy. Their style of dress and Yiddish language made them a target for racial abuse. The long-established Anglo-Jews also feared the hostile publicity, anticipating racial unrest. A Royal Commission was set up in 1902 to look at the immigration ‘problem’. By 1905 the Aliens Act was brought in with restrictions on immigration. 

By the turn of the 20th century, some Jewish-owned workshops and factories moved out of the East End to Tottenham, where there was more land for expansion. By 1904 the likes of Harris Lebus furniture factory had begun operating in Tottenham Hale, becoming a major employer in the area. Lebus attracted skilled cabinet-makers, many of Eastern European origin. 

In 1904, fewer than twenty Jewish families were living in Tottenham, mainly around Colsterworth Road between Tottenham Green and Tottenham Hale, convenient for the factories and the High Road. Observing their Jewish faith and cultural roots, the families initially met with each in other in their homes for prayer. They then rented a room for religious education classes in the Home and Hospital for ‘Jewish Incurables’ just along the High Road. 

(Memorial window from the synagogue. From the collections of Bruce Castle Museum and Archive: Photographer © Henry Jacobs).

As the Jewish community grew, in 1911 this building was bought for the local Jewish community – becoming the synagogue of the Tottenham Hebrew Congregation. The building had been the former Clarion Workingmen’s Club. By 1912 over 70 local Jewish families were members. After the Second World War membership dramatically increased, peaking in 1954 with 435 families. Since that time families gradually moved away from the area. From 1991 the synagogue was in decline. By 2002 the building was sold. 

Thanks to local photographer Henry Jacobs, the beautiful interiors and associated objects of the Synagogue were recorded, along with its rich and important history documented by the former Jewish Heritage Research Group and Dr Stanley Cohen, so the Jewish community’s heritage and story of this building can still be understood and told today. 

The Maa Maat Cultural Centre 

Today, number 366a is the Maa Maat Cultural Centre - a pioneering and independent African cultural organisation that showcases African determination, contributions and achievements throughout the world. It has an emphasis on African history, culture, spirituality, science and technology.

(Elder Nkruma Pepukayi and visitors at the Pepukayi Bookshop at The Maa Maat Cultural Centre.
Courtesy: @peppakayibooksn17) 

Within the Centre is the extraordinary collection of Pepukayi Books, the African-centred book specialists and bookshop. Its founder is Elder Nkruma Pepukayi, who has been serving the Black community for over 50 years.

Find out more about the bookshop.

Further information

Follow @peppakayibooksn17