South East London Synagogue

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The South East London Syngagogue was established in 1888 by Ashkenazi Jews who had immigrated from Eastern Europe.

The synagogue's first premisies was a house at 452 New Cross Road, London SE14. It then moved to Nettleton Road, followed by a hut in Lausanne Road in 1889.

The first purpose-built synagogue was consecrated in March 1905 and was destroyed by a German air raid on 27 December 1940. After this the congregation moved temporarily to 117 Lewisham Way, returning to its original site at New Cross Road in 1946 - first to a temporary hut and then to a new purpose-built synagogue in 1956. However the congregation went into decline and it closed in 1985, by which time it only had 56 male members compared with 294 in 1939. [1]

After the closure of the synagogue, the building was left empty for a period and used by squatters. For a while it was used as a rehearsal space for local bands and performance artists including Test Department and Peri Mackintosh's Proj-X. [2]

Subsequently it was acquired by the Jehovah's Witnesses who converted it to a Kingdom Hall.

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