Princelet Street Synagogue

'One of the most remarkable places in London'
Michael Palin

Walk down the vibrant, bustle of London’s Brick Lane, turn into a quiet Georgian side street and you will find yourself outside the old carved oak door of 19 (previously 18) Princelet Street.

Inside the noise of the modern world subsides. You are in an otherworldly place, an un-restored interior that has been left untouched for three hundred years.

Built in 1719, it first housed Huguenot families fleeing religious persecution in France. Fifty thousand escaped to London, and a family of master silk weavers made their home and workplace at number 19.By the 1800s, after the Huguenots moved on, 150,000 Jewish refugees from central Europe lived in the area.

In 1869 a synagogue was built at the back of the house, where the garden used to be. It’s still there, one of the oldest in London, complete with grimy, pastel-coloured glass ceiling, rickety balcony, and wooden boards, listing its benefactors in faded golden Hebrew.

In June 1893 the name of the street was changed from Princes Street to Princelet Street; the synagogue was then known as the 'Princes Street Synagogue', until 1916 when the name changed to the 'Princelet Street Synagogue'. In 1921 the houses in the street were re-numbered, number 18 becoming number 19.

Beneath the secret synagogue is another room where some of the early anti-fascist meetings were held in the 1930s, before the famous ‘Battle of Cable Street’. In the 1940s, it was a meeting point for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, and a place of sanctuary for the children rescued from the continent on Kndertransport trains.

There is a substantial archive of the synagogue held at Tower Hamlets Local Studies Library and Archives, sand there is an online catalogue to view the archive. It gives details of 100 marriages solemnized at the synagogue during the ten-year period including that of Katie Davitsky and Samuel Stein. Many of the marrriages were which were witnessed by the synagogue beadle (caretaker) Davis Davitsky.

This Huguenot merchant’s house and rare synagogue is now home to Britain’s first museum of immigration. The synagogue is opened just a few days a year to the general public but groups can visit by special appointment.