West London Synagogue

The West London Synagogue is a Grade II listed building constructed between 1869 and 1870 by architects Davis and Emanuel. It is designed in a Byzantine/Romanesque style, featuring a brick structure with a Portland stone facade and a slate roof. The three-storey facade is characterized by a prominent pedimented semi-circular arch that is supported by coupled columns with richly-carved capitals. This arch is positioned in front of a recessed entrance bay, which includes graduated semi-circular arched windows above three doorways framed by a semi-circular arched arcade with similar columns. The attic storey features an arcade of eight round-arched windows with foliate capitals on square piers, along with one-light windows in the projecting outer bays. A continuous bracketed cornice runs along the parapet, which is topped with acroteriae.

Inside, the synagogue has a panelled entrance hall with a beamed coffered ceiling and a double-flight staircase adorned with bronze candelabra on the newels. The interior is noted for its fine design, featuring a centralized plan with a central dome supported by semi-circular arches and quatrefoil-section scagliola piers. These piers have foliate Byzantine/Romanesque capitals that enhance the decorative balcony fronts and the upper stage, which is crowned by a cluster of colonettes with similar capitals. The barrel-vaulted aisles are supported by grouped colonettes on corbels. The apsidal 'sanctuary' is separated from the main body of the synagogue by a semi-circular arch over a fine domed ark, flanked by screens enriched with colored marble and mosaic. The 'Moorish' style screens are set within semi-circular arched architraves, with richly-carved Byzantine-Romanesque style capitals on the arcade piers and colonettes that support the dome. The balustraded enclosure and pulpit are designed in a similar style and use similar materials. The synagogue also features fine stained glass in the semi-circular arched windows and square-headed three-light aisle windows with foliate piers.

The West London Synagogue is recognized as the most important Reform synagogue in Victorian London and, alongside Davis and Emanuel's East London Synagogue, is regarded as one of the finest Victorian synagogues in the country.