Description

James Miller, 1929-1932; interior of synagogue divided at gallery level by Dick Peddie and McKay in 1979. 2-storey, cruciform-plan synagogue and community centre with various additions to rear and detached caretaker's house; Byzantine style simplified into geometric form. Whitwick red and purple handmade Sandstock brick.

W (ENTRANCE) BLOCK: N ELEVATION: single bay; central, round-arched entrance; recessed, stone doorway with carved Hebrew script to lintel; herringbone brick above; 2-leaf, panelled door; single stained-glass, round-arched window to 1st floor above. Inscribed foundation stone to right. W ELEVATION: 5 bay with outer bays advanced; steps to central, round-arched entrance; recessed stone doorway with carved Hebrew lettering to lintel; 2-leaf, panelled door; 3-pane, obscure glass fanlight; single, stained-glass window to 1st floor above and to both floors in bays to outer left and right. Advanced outer bays with single windows at ground and recessed, round-arched windows at 1st floor. Architect's name inscribed on foundation stone to N.

E ELEVATION: blank wall.

LINKING BLOCK: 2-bay; deeply recessed; single windows at ground; single, round-arched, stained-glass windows to 1st floor above.

E BLOCK: N ELEVATION: 3-bay; single windows at ground; single round-arched, stained glass windows to 1st floor above. W ELEVATION: single window at ground. E ELEVATION: 5-bay, advanced central block; doorways to N and S; central 3 bays slightly advanced; central bay (choir) bowed to form semi-circular apse with half-dome above; single window at ground with large, stained-glass, round-arched window breaking eaves above; single windows in flanking bays.

S ELEVATION: various projections, some single and some 2-storey, to rear accommodating a smaller synagogue, classrooms, meeting rooms, kitchen, ritual bath (Mikveh), tabernacle (Sukkah) and offices.

CARETAKER'S HOUSE: detached house in grounds to rear of main building; 2-storey with single storey block attached.

SYNAGOGUE INTERIOR: (divided at gallery level 1989 to create community centre at ground; access to synagogue via 2 staircases at vestibule end) galleried seating to N, S and W; choir room in semi-circular apse behind wrought-iron and blue stained-glass screen to E; centrally positioned Ark (Aron Hakodesh) in front of screen; French walnut with gilded decoration and Hebrew lettering above; raised platform (bimah) in front of Ark with pulpit and free-standing candelabra (menorah); geometric-design painted iron railings with wooden handrails surrounding platform; simple raked seating to nave; central almemar with railings as before. All woodwork fittings Port-Orford cedar; oak seating. Flat roof with saucer dome above the crossing of former transept and the nave. Vestibule to W end of hall with corridor at S leading to meeting, prayer and class rooms. STAINED GLASS: various symbolic designs to main hall, predominantly pale blue in colour (national colour of Israel);

4 windows by William Wilson to vestibule executed 1957; symbolic themes including menorah and Star of David.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: low coped brick wall to street; original railings; 2 pairs of square-plan, brick gatepiers with plain stone caps and cast-iron lamp stands (lamps missing).

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. The architects brief was to design a building prestigious enough to make a notable contribution to the architecture of Edinburgh and to provide a focal point for the City's Jewish community. The building took 15 months to complete: the foundation stone was laid 3 May 1931 by Viscount Bearsted and the building consecrated on 11 September 1932. The total cost was ?20,000.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17807600

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)