Leicester Hebrew Congregation

The Leicester Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, built in 1897-8, with schoolrooms added in 1901, was designed by Arthur Wakerley. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and a parapeted slate roof. The building has a polygonal plan, featuring a square main space canted towards an Ark apse. A central tower projects to the entrance front, with schoolrooms and ancillary rooms forming a wing to the left. The architectural style is Byzantine, characterised by round-arched windows with leaded glazing.

The entrance front has seven windows at the first floor, with a pair of round-arched windows flanking three similar windows in the projecting tower. Ground floor windows are paired, with a central round-arched doorway in the tower, approached by steps and featuring a moulded surround to the double doors and fanlight. Above the arch is a stone hood mould and the Ma Tovu inscription in Hebrew with a chronogram. The tower’s top storey features three windows on each side, with moulded pilasters at the corners, a prominent corbel table, a curving parapet, and a copper-covered onion dome with an octagonal lantern surmounted by an onion dome and finial. The right side of the main block exhibits round-arched windows on both storeys; the left side is similar, although with a late 20th-century fire-escape projection. The rear is canted, with the Ark apse projecting beyond the short end. A wing to the left, originally the schoolrooms, contains ancillary rooms and features round-arched windows; its front has a four-window range to both floors under a curved gable.

The interior retains its original layout, including a women's gallery and seating at the western, entrance, end, supported by cast-iron columns with stairs from the entrance hall. The Ark, made of Spanish mahogany, is located in the east apse, flanked by wardens’ boxes and a pulpit. A stained glass window is positioned above the Ark, flanked by marble Luhot tablets. An elaborate central Bimah is present, complete with original electroliers, and there are numbered pews surrounding it. The windows contain coloured glass. A Mikveh, renovated in 1984, is located in the basement. The schoolrooms contain memorial boards detailing donations to the congregation.

This synagogue represents a well-designed and finely-detailed example of its type, with very little alteration since its construction.