Preliminary report of the inspection of the Primitive Methodist Church sent to Mr Leslie Corne, Cardiff, 1950

Description

A letter to Mr Leslie Corne from Thraves and Walker, Chartered Architects and Surveyors. The letter contains their preliminary report of their inspection of the Primitive Methodist Church. This was to become the new Cardiff Reform (New) Synagogue location at Moira Terrace.

The report includes brief information on various elements of the building that needs work done to it. These include, the condition of the external structure and the work needed to be done to prevent the external walls from spreading; the condition of the Internal structure such as dry rot in the basement and what needs to be done to make all of the conversions requested by the Cardiff Reform (New) Synagogue possible; possible rewiring of all the electrics, a new heating system and finally, a rough costing estimate.

The letter is signed but the name of the specific person who wrote the letter cannot be made out.

The Cardiff Reform Synagogue was founded in 1948 as the Cardiff New Synagogue. The following year, it became a constituent member of the Movement for Reform Judaism. Born in reaction against the more restrictive traditions of the Orthodox Judaism of Cardiff Hebrew Congregation, such as the prohibition of driving on the Sabbath and the ban on interfaith marriages, the new Synagogue appealed to the immigrants who had fled the war-torn Europe, where the Reform movement was already well-established. The congregation worships in a converted Methodist Chapel on Moira Terrace they acquired in 1952.

Sources:
'The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales' by Cai Parry-Jones (http://e.bangor.ac.uk/4987);
JCR-UK/JewishGen (https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/card1/index.htm).

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.