‘‘Chelsea Synagogue is a friendly modern orthodox Synagogue affiliated to the United Synagogues. Initially known as the Victoria and Chelsea Synagogue, the present Chelsea Synagogue was designed by a member, the architect Cyril Adler, and was built in 1959. Peter Renton, author of ‘The Lost Synagogues of London’ describes it as ‘a little gem,’ referring, no doubt, to its interior.’’
There are apparently no existing photographs of the original synagogue, neither do detailed records appear in municipal archives.
In 1913, two local residents, Woolf Adler, father of the architect, and Julius Nelkin met by chance in Battersea Park. They decided to organize a congregation.
In 1916, a former artist's studio, The Red House, in Smith Terrace - the last house in the street was purchased. It abutted upon a builders or scrap-yard which was also bought for the new synagogue.
The ground floor was used for a Hebrew School, for Literary Society meetings and for various social activities. Upstairs was the synagogue, with ceiling lights.
The women sat on the right-hand side of the room, separated from the rest of the congregation by an ornamental grille. The male choir sat in front of the grille, conducted from behind it by the Rabbi's wife, Mrs Miller. By all accounts it was a very good choir.
Rabbi Miller's daughter told how, in the 1930's, Jewish refugees from Germany were brought by boat to Cadogan Pier, probably from Tilbury and were taken straight to the Synagogue.
In 1949, the freehold of the Red House had been purchased for £500 and the adjacent site for £3,500. In 1957, the old building was demolished and the new one erected on the site. Gilbert Ash, builder of the new synagogue, deferred their profit for a year in order to assist the congregation.
In 2017 the Centenary of the Synagogue was celebrated with various events attended by the descendants of the founders and by members and friends of the Synagogue.
Today, the synagogue is on the ground floor, divided from the entrance by a glass screen with stained-glass panels designed by a synagogue member.
The synagogue benefits from extensive windows the full length of its north and south walls as well as an attractive, domed ceiling light. In the early 2000s additional stained glassed panels were installed on the windows on one side.
The Ark, which contains the Scrolls of the Law, has an unusual pair of filigree brass sliding doors. The filigree work of each door comprises the introductory words of five of the Ten Commandments in a modern Hebrew script. Woman's and men's seating is now arranged respectively on either side of a central gangway.
Upstairs, a hall, a classroom, and a kitchen house the Hebrew school and a variety of social and cultural events and meetings.
