The fight to save an ancient City synagogue from developers

00:00 11:26

Christopher Howse has narrated this article for you to listen to.

There was a little number, 223, pasted onto the back of one of the centuries-old wooden seats in Bevis Marks synagogue in the City of London. ‘What are these?’ I asked Rabbi Shalom Morris, who was showing me round.

‘They’re called gavetas,’ he replied, opening the lid of a compartment in the bench. ‘It’s a Portuguese word. They’re for people to leave their personal property here – prayer shawls and things – as we don’t carry anything on Shabbat.’

It was a detail that impressed on me the long history of the Sephardi tradition here, the oldest continuously functioning synagogue in Europe today. And now, Bevis Marks synagogue is under threat. There’s a proposal for a 43-storey tower block a few yards away at 31 Bury Street, which would literally overshadow the synagogue in its quiet paved courtyard.

To me, any very tall building in the City plonked next to an ancient place of worship is bullying bad manners

Rabbi Morris, with a habitual smile and a New York accent from his upbringing, sounded the most unhappy when trying to convey his relations with the City of London authorities. He is fighting their planning decisions and simultaneously ‘pleading’ with them – an uncomfortable position. In the face of what Rabbi Morris calls ‘an abuse of power and a breach of our community’s trust’, the defence of Bevis Marks has attracted some eminent people. Nine professors of history, a former Lord Mayor, a former Master of the Rolls and well-known names like the historian Simon Schama and the novelist Howard Jacobson were among the 27 signatories of a letter in the Daily Telegraph declaring that ‘the City’s failure to consider the religious and cultural dimensions of the synagogue will cause outrage’.

To me, any very tall building in the City plonked next to an ancient place of worship is bullying bad manners.