Bath House at Sir Moses Montefiore Synagogue

The bath house, or Mikveh, was built in 1916 as a freestanding ritual bath to serve the Jewish congregation of the Sir Moses Montefiore Synagogue in Grimsby. The building is rectangular and located to the west of the synagogue, with a projecting central entrance porch.

The east elevation, which is the principal facade, is constructed of red brick with ashlar and blue brick dressings, and a rendered plinth. The sides and rear are of yellow brick, and the roof is covered with Welsh slate (though this was recently overlaid).

The single-story building has a pitched roof, and its three bays are raised above ground level by a deep, tapered plinth capped with chamfered blue brick and a flush ashlar band. A set of five stone steps leads up to the central porch, which has an entrance door with a three-pane fan light (now boarded over) set within a double-chamfered brick reveal. Above the doorway is a brick parapet with a central stone pediment bearing a relief inscription of the word ‘Mikveh’ in Hebrew. The south bay features a square casement window with glazing bars (also boarded over) and a stone lintel and sill. The north bay is blank. Ornate terracotta ventilation grilles are located in the outer bays of the east elevation. The pitched roof has coped gables with brick kneelers, a large rooflight on the east pitch, and a brick stack with a four-course corbelled brick and ashlar cap on the west pitch. The south elevation has a small first-floor window with stone sills and lintel, a blocked door opening with a stone lintel, and a low opening within a rounded brick arch. The north and west elevations are blank, with the north elevation built into the boundary wall.

Inside, the entrance opens into a large room with a tiled floor and glazed tiled walls. A light-well composed of four nine-light panes (some missing) provides illumination. Gaps in the floor and wall tiling indicate where partitions once stood. A square, sunken immersion pool is located in the north-east corner of the room, currently filled with rubble. To the south of the main room is a small office with a picture rail, and an arched doorway with a fan light leading to a tiled vestibule containing a door with a top light leading to a toilet.