"He who has not seen the interior of Princes Road Synagogue in Liverpool has not beheld the glory of Israel."

H.A. Meek (1993)

©Leanne Matalon 2008

Princes Road synagogue was built in 1874 to the design of W & G Audsley, reflecting the growing influence and status of the highly assimilated Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation. The Audsleys described the synagogue’s features as being “from both Eastern and Western schools of art, and blended together with enough of the eastern feeling to render it suggestive, and enough of the western severity to make it appropriate for a street building in a western town.”

The interior is magnificent, laid out like a gothic basilica. At the Eastern end sits the Ark at the entrance to the sanctuary, above which sits a most beautiful rose window matching another at the Western end.

The Bimah (readers’ desk) was originally made from wood but was replaced a year after the synagogue’s consecration with one constructed from alabaster and marble, donated by businessman David Lewis as he thought the original one unbefitting such a grand building.

We feature on the English Heritage website and many others, as well as being supported by the Open Churches Trust. The synagogue has also been featured in several films and television programmes.

We offer pre-booked tours to adult and school groups on Mondays to Thursdays, from 9.30am until 3.30pm. Sunday tours are possible by special arrangement. Please contact the synagogue office to arrange a booking.

Tours last for approximately 45 minutes, after which visitors will have a chance to browse our exhibition charting the history of the congregation and the wider Liverpool community; a donation of £4.00 per person is requested towards the upkeep of the building. Donations from schools are by arrangement.

An exhibition is included as part of the tour. Located in our synagogue annexe, this will showcase the congregation’s history of 230 years through images, artefacts and silverware.

Alaster Burman

Naomi Hoyland