Ruined Synagogue in Britain’s Cornwall, Home to 60 Jews, Won’t Be Sold
City planners in the British county of Cornwall have prevented the sale of an abandoned synagogue in the town of Penzance.
The planners in the southern English county last week decided not to authorize a plans to sell the abandoned synagogue, which is now part of a pub named Star Inn, due to noise concerns, according to This is Cornwall, a local newspaper and news website.
“There could be a likely increase of level of noise and general disturbance on the site which would be detrimental to nearby properties,” a city planner is quoted as saying in explaining the decision to decline a request by the Pubs and Bars company to “redevelop the Star Inn in Penzance” and sell off and demolish a section which includes the remains of the town’s Jewish synagogue.
The Jewish Chronicle also reported on the action.
According to a report from 2008 by the BBC, the synagogue in Penzance closed its doors in 1850, as Cornish Jews left the county for large cities during the industrial revolution.
Cornwall’s Jewish community, Kehillat Kernow, has 80 members, according to its website.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.