Manchester Jewish Museum, Manchester

Manchester Jewish Museum, located on Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, is housed within a historic building originally constructed as a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue. This architectural landmark, a Grade II* listed building designed by Edward Salomons in 1874, showcases the Moorish Revival style. Characterized by its horseshoe windows and a facade adorned with a recessed doorway and an arcade of windows, the synagogue represents a thoughtful homage to Moorish Spanish architecture. The interior continues this motif with features like a horseshoe arch framing the heichal (the ark that holds the Sifrei Torah) and intricately designed polychrome columns supporting the galleries.

The synagogue ceased to serve its original religious function due to the migration of the Jewish community from Cheetham to areas like Prestwich and Whitefield. In March 1984, it was repurposed as the Manchester Jewish Museum, focusing on the rich narrative of Jewish settlement in Manchester over the past 200 years. The museum underwent significant redevelopment and reopened on July 2, 2021, enhancing its offerings with a new gallery, a vegetarian café, a shop, and a learning studio and kitchen, alongside a complete restoration of the original synagogue structure.

The museum's collection is vast, containing over 31,000 items that document the journey of Jewish migration and settlement in the region. This includes over 530 oral history testimonies, more than 20,000 photographs, and 138 interviews with Holocaust survivors and refugees, providing a deep, personal insight into the community's history and resilience.