As the congregation increased, larger premises were required. Charlotte Square opened in 1867.
By 1880, the congregation had grown to 750 and Leazes Park Road Shul was opened providing seating “for 350 gentlemen on the ground floor and 250 ladies in the first floor gallery”. This resulted in the closure of both Temple Street and Charlotte Square.
The community continued to expand - Jesmond Synagogue was opened in 1914 and Ravensworth in the west end in 1924.
Many young families moved to the north of Newcastle and the Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1947. Initially services were held in various premises in Gosforth. Eventually a new purpose-built synagogue was opened in 1963.
By the late 1960’s, the demographic of the community had changed causing the closure of Ravensworth in 1969 and Leazes Park Road in 1973.
The community started to shrink as students gained professional qualifications at university and moved to larger Jewish centres in London Leeds and Manchester.
As a result of falling membership, it was decided to amalgamate the two remaining congregations into one “United Hebrew Congregation” with a new building at Culzean Park which opened in 1986 accommodating over 300 worshippers.
Lahav is a project set up to collect, preserve and celebrate the rich history of the Jewish community in North East England and in Tyne & Wear in particular, from the 1700s to the present day.
