Hebrew Gates

KINGSTON UPON HULL

680-1/0/10132 LINNAEUS STREET 08-MAY-08 HEBREW GATES (Formerly listed as: LINNAEUS STREET HEBREW GATES AND RAILINGS)

II Entrance gates to the former Hull Western Synagogue and the former Hebrew School for Girls, 1926. Ironwork.

LAYOUT The double entrance gates for vehicles are flanked by pedestrian gates, the whole spanning between 17 and 19 Linnaeus Street.

DESIGN The central and pedestrian gates are hung from the same gate piers. These piers, square on plan, are formed out of railings with five uprights to each side. The uprights are linked by a decorative band of diamond headed fleur-de-lis below two bands of curved sections forming simple star or hourglass shapes. Above this there is a prominent Star of David to each face with the railings gathered to a central spike above. The central gates are also in the form of vertical spiked railings and continue the fleur-de-lis and hourglass decorative bands of the piers. They are ramped up to the centre to make space for inscribed plates carrying the dedication. The plate on the left gate reads: THESE GATES ARE DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE EDWARD GOSSCHALK AND PRESENTED TO THE HULL WESTERN SYNAGOGUE BY HIS WIDOW AND SONS JUNE 1926 The plate on the right carries an inscription in Hebrew script. The flanking pedestrian gates continue the decorative design but without the inscribed plates. They close onto gate piers attached to the flanking buildings, these piers being in the form of the central piers divided in half so that they only carry the Star of David on the one face, that facing across the entrance.

HISTORY Hull Western Synagogue dates to 1902 and was originally part of a complex including Hull's Hebrew School for Girls that occupied 15-17 Linnaeus Street with 19 Linnaeus Street being used as a headmaster's house. The gates were erected in June 1926 to the memory of Edward Gosschalk by his widow and sons. Gosschalk was a member of the synagogue and was a partner of the Hull firm of Gosschalk Solicitors, which had been founded by his father in the late C19. Hull Western Synagogue not only served the local Jewish community but was also used by a large number of the many thousands of Jews from eastern Europe who travelled through the port of Hull en route to North America in the early C20. Hull Western Synagogue closed as a synagogue in 1994.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION

The Linnaeus Street Hebrew Gates are designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

• As a rare example (in both a national and European context) of a very public display of Jewish symbols and an associated Hebrew inscription that pre-dates the Second World War. * For the additional group value with the listed former Hull Western Synagogue.