Singers Hill Synagogue

In 1856, the Congregation sold Severn St Synagogue, and moved up the hill to the grander surroundings of Singers Hill Synagogue.

Singers Hill was designed by the architect Henry Yeoville Thomason, who went on to design the Council House.

Shortly after it was finished, the synagogue was described in the local press as ‘a glory to the community and an ornament to the town’. A letter written at the time of the opening of the synagogue describes the consecration ceremony like this: ‘I should judge there were about 1500 people in the buildings a little after one o'clock, a beautiful canopy and four supporting gentlemen were at the entrance of the Shool [synagogue] door when the Chief Rabbi said: "Open unto me the Gates of Righteousness, I will go unto them and I will praise the Lord" (Psalm 118, Verse 19). Then the Wardens and gentlemen made a procession seven times round the altar, each bearing a scroll of the Law, the organ playing most solemnly and the choristers singing. Heavenly, not a whisper was heard. Then Dr Adler from the pulpit gave a beautiful lecture. His text was from the psalms, I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’

The Birmingham Hebrew School met in a room behind the synagogue from 1856 until the 1930s, and acquired a second school building round the corner from the synagogue in 1899, now Trefoil House. In the 1930s, the Congregation raised money for a purpose-built school in St Luke's Rd and this building was sold. The old schoolroom is now part of the Joseph Cohen Hall, which is still used for events.