The Synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation, Bevis Marks, Aldgate, London.
by Evan Millner.
March 17th 1999.
The synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community, is the oldest Jewish House of Worship still in use in the country, and second built in this country after the expulsion of the Jewish Community by Edward I in 1290.
The first synagogue was around the corner from the present one, and was constructed inside a house -later enlarged to two houses, at what is now 5 Creechurch Lane. Furnishings and artifacts from the earlier building are to be found in the present synagogue. ‘Creechurch Lane’ was opened in 1657, and the building survived until 1857, when it was demolished. This synagogue is mentioned at some length in the diary of Samuel Pepys, who visited it on the Feast of The rejoicing of the Torah, a somewhat exuberant festival, and in a letter by John Greenhalgh, dated 16 April 1662 .
Judging from the furniture that remains from the earlier synagogue, it was designed in full accord with the Puritan ethos of the day. The present synagogue contains the benches from the Creechurch Lane synagogue, which constitutes the largest collection of such benches from the interregnum in the UK. These are remarkably strong, and are still sat on regularly. They are simple in their design, and originally had no backs, although a number were modified at a later date, when they were used as benches in the Congregational School.
The synagogue’s restorer, Darren Marks, is of the opinion that a number of the high backed pews in ‘Bevis Marks’ are also from the earlier synagogue, although there is no documentation for this. As the furniture is still in use, it is undergoing constant restoration and repair, and Darren Marks has acquired a feel for the furnishings in the synagogue.
In an ideal world, all the fittings would be behind glass, which would prevent the occasional catastrophe, such as the dropping of a late eighteenth century Circumcision Chair, which shattered into a large number of small fragments. These were collected, and the chair was restored by Mr Marks. The repair is of good quality, but the fine hairbreaks can be seen all over the piece, like crazing on an old teapot. The chair will never be sat in again, as, although it is probably strong enough, it would be a risky undertaking.
I will write more of these matters later, as I have not yet mentioned the present synagogue.
The congregation grew to the extent that a new building was needed, and a plot of land called ‘The Plough Yard’, off Bevis Marks, was leased for this purpose in 1699. The building was completed in September 1701.
The outside is plain, and can barely be seen from the street. There was originally an archway of carved stone, but this was mutilated in the 1890's, when the adjoining land was leased, and office blocks constructed. The lower part of the arch is in situ, and the upper part is now disconnected, and is placed on the exterior of the office building, above the archway, but some three yards towards the street, over a plain brick archway, which forms part of an arcade. Some elements of the original archway are no longer present, such as carved finials, which are visible in earlier photographs. There is evidence of plastic repairs to the stonework, and it is also evident that the stonework was not thoroughly cleaned before these repairs were carried out, as the infills are darker than the original Portland. This is because the tone matching was made for the dirtier uncleaned stone. The building recently underwent a thorough restoration, and cleaning took place at this time.
The interior of the synagogue was designed in accord with current fashions, in a sparse Puritan neo-classical style. The architect is unknown, but the contractor who built the structure is known to be Joseph Avis, who also built St. Margaret’s. In view of the fact that the profession of architecture was still more or less undefined at this point, I think it is quite possible that Avis was responsible for the design of the building itself. There is nothing in it that could not have been obtained from an architectural pattern-book.
Many people say that the synagogue is a copy of the Snoga (Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, 1675) in Amsterdam, however, this is not held up on close observation. The building resembles most ecclesiastical interiors in London from this period, and the layout is the same as that of the Creechurch Lane synagogue, which the architect would have seen. There are more differences than similarities between the two synagogues in matters of architectural detail.
Some fittings are identical, as the Amsterdam Community donated the candelabra, which are a dominant element in the interior of the synagogue, hanging low and ponderous to provide a maximum of light. One, if not all, were cast in Holland.
There are no specifically Jewish motifs in the building, apart from the Hebrew inscription on the Ark, on the ten commandments. It is interesting that the first occurrence of this element, occurs in a Protestant Church in the mid 1600’s in France. There is a well established connection between dissenting Church architecture, and synagogue architecture in France and Holland at this period. Indeed, the contractor of Bevis Marks, Mr Avis, was a Quaker.
The building is today in almost the same state as when it was opened in 1701. It is perhaps the best preserved ecclesiastical interior from this period in the country. It has been well looked after, with ongoing restoration and repair. There has been only one notable alteration to the interior of the building, when seating for a choir was added in 1839. This seating is located at the rear of the reading platform, and has been simply built straight on top of the existing pews, which remain intact beneath. The new choir was controversial, and I think it is quite probable that the Ma’amad (The Board of Elders) took a conservative view, and were unsure about whether this would be a passing whim, or a permanent fixture. This would explain the solid but reversible nature of the addition.
Otherwise, the seating installed in the building in 1701 is still in place, and constitutes an important collection of ecclesiastical furniture.
It would be interesting from a conservation perspective to examine elements beneath the choir, such as original paintwork (marbled stucco) on the columns, to see if the existing colours are faithful to the original scheme. There are records that the synagogue was redecorated extensively in 1824, and since then, on a number of occasions.
In 1992, major restoration work was commenced, following the discovery of dry rot in the floor, and most of the floor was taken up. This damage resulted from the floor of the synagogue being carpeted (for a wedding), which , examination of the marriage books, indicates took place in November 1990. The intention was to leave the carpeting in place permanently. It was later discovered that there was dry rot, which it was discovered had been caused by ventilation problems directly connected with the carpeting. The problem took about three years to develop. When the Board of Elders instructed that the carpeting be removed, it was discovered that it had been installed without supervision, and worse, the installers had glued the carpet directly to the 300 year old floor boards. This resulted in serious damage when the carpet was lifted. Of course, the removal of the aforementioned carpet was also done without the supervision of the conservator, and the floorboards were not removed with care, numbered, etc., as should have been done. Irreversible damage to these boards was caused in the process, as when the carpet was lifted the old brittle wood came away with the glue. Some floorboards were rescued, and were used in the reconstruction of the floor, on the sides of the synagogue.
The wood of the supporting timbers had been pine and oak, and Darren Marks, says the floor itself waspine. It has been replaced with an African Hardwood. It was also discovered during the restoration that the Ark (A glorified cupboard for storing the Holy Manuscripts of the Pentateuch), which is conceived of as a reredos-type structure, was not fixed to the wall. This was rectified.
The seating was originally bolted to the floor. Unfortunately, when the new floor was put in place, the seating was once again bolted to the floor, before the flooring had had time to settle in. Subsequently, an amount of movement occurred in the flooring, and the brittle wood of the seating was damaged. This was exacerbated, because the seating had also altered shape over the centuries, as the original flooring to which they had been bolted had moved as well, as might be expected with a floor of this age. The pews are long -they can hold about ten people - and are narrow with high backs. Because of this warping , and the unfortunate fact that the seats were bolted down, damage occurred which could have been avoided. The seats are still not bolted to the floor, and the restorer has resorted to propping up the seats with small squares of wood, where the legs do not touch the floor.
While the above restoration program was in progress, (The new floor was put in on a Wednesday, including the bolting of Ark to the wall), an IRA bomb went off at the Baltic Exchange, (that Friday), which caused damage to the fabric of the building. The surveyors were of the opinion that had the new flooring not been in place, the building would have been in danger of collapsing. From cracks around the ceiling, it appears that the entire roof, covered with tons of heavy slate, was lifted by the blast. Luckily, the Ark had been secured, or else it would have collapsed.
There is some evidence of damage to the Ark, but this appears to be quite old damage,possibly from the WWI shrapnel bomb that exploded in the courtyard on Kal Nidre 1915 during the service. There is still a shrapnel hole in the rabbi's seat on the Tebah. The synagogue was not hit directly during the WWII, but the neighboring Great Synagogue (Mid 1700’s) was razed by a bomb. The tips of some acanthus leaves are missing from the Corinthian Caps (wood, gilded) on the Ark. I have also noticed that part of one of the carved festoons of fruit and leaves is missing, on the left side of the Ark. I have searched through photographic records, but am unable to discover when this element was damaged. It would be an interesting carving project to copy the extant elements of the festoon on the right side of the Ark, and replace the missing elements on the left.
Mr Henri Valier, the Beadle of the synagogue, who has been most helpful in compiling the information in this essay, told an interesting story relating to these doors:- The Ark is wooden, with gesso, and gilding, and various faux marble and wood effects. The restorer had noticed an inexplicable accumulation of ‘gunk’, to give it its technical name, on the doors, and asked Mr Valier if he had any ideas about a possible cause. Upon investigation, it transpired that a previous Beadle, now an elderly gentleman, was regularly polishing the "wood" with linseed oil.
In another incident damage was caused by putting some seventeenth century solid silver finials into an electrolytic bath to clean them, as was the former accepted practice at the synagogue. However, the gentleman who did so was distracted by pressing matters, and returned some time later to find they had been quite dissolved. These were worth a substantial sum, and were irreplaceable.
As a result of the Bomb, and the resulting insurance money, and fundraising, the building was able to be restored to a state or near perfection. Most of the window glass had been blown out, and the jambs of the windows in some places had been forced from the walls by the pressure of the blast. These were eased back into place by application of pressure.
During the Victorian period, the clear glass windows had been provided with an edging (unobtrusive) of blue flashed glass. Fragments were collected, and shipped to St. Just in France, where the process of reconstructing the patterns, and making and etching the glass, was carried out.
The seating and woodwork in the building is all of oak. During the Victorian period, this was coated with dark shellac. This had the effect of darkening the appearance of the wood. The varnish has subsequently shrunken on the wood, giving the benches an even more ancient looking aspect.
Woodwork in the building in currently being worked on by Leslie Charteris.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Sepharadi Bulletin, Vol 53, No2. Publishers: Society of Heshaim, London, 1999.
The Mitsvot of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation, London. G Whitehill, Thesoureiro do Heshaim, Oxford University Press, 1969.
Gids, Joodish Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, Judith Belinfante, March 1995.
El Libro de los Acuerdos, being the records and accompts of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of London from 1663 to 1681, trans. L D Barnett, Published by The Board of Elders of the Congregation, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
The Sephardim of England, a History of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community 1492 - 1951, Albert Hyamson, Methuen and Co, London, 1951.
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