Newspaper article on the service held to mark the closure of the Queen's Hill Crescent Synagogue, Newport, 25 July 1997

Description

Newspaper article from The Jewish Chronicle on the service held to mark the closure of Newport's Queen's Hill Crescent Synagogue on 20 July 1997. The article reports that the service was attended by 120 people, including members of Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea synagogues. The service was led by Reverend David Braunold, with an address by Newport synagogue trustee, Mr Harry Poloway. The article notes that the "tiny" remaining Newport congregation will continue to hold services at the former Prayer Hall at "Jews Wood cemetery". The article also includes comments from the Chairman of Newport synagogue Trustees, Mr Israel Rocker, who noted that the Newport Mon Hebrew Congregation was "reduced in size but not in spirit".

Newport Monmouthshire Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1859 by orthodox Jews meeting at a temporary synagogue in Llanarth Street. A synagogue at Francis Street was opened in 1869 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi Dr Herman Adler in 1871. In 1934 the congregation moved to the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall in Queen's Hill which was converted to a synagogue. In 1997 this synagogue was closed, and the congregation moved to the Prayer House by the Jewish Burial Ground on Risca Road. Within 20 years the congregation had dwindled to a few members able to attend and this too had ceased to hold services.

Sources:
"History of our Shul. The First Hundred Years", published by Newport Congregation in 1959;
Oral history interviews with members of the Newport Mon Hebrew Congregation, recorded in 2018 by JHASW.

Depository: Gwent Archives.