• Introduction
• History
• Key Dates
• Disability and Access

• Places of interest
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UNCOVERING THE PAST

Hidden for more than 700 years, the synagogue was unearthed in 1996 while preparations were being made to demolish and rebuild the interior of Principals menswear shop on the High Street. A local archeological team, headed by John Boas, discovered that a rear portion of the cellar was sealed off and, on removing some of the bricks, they found the lost doorway and chamber.

Funnily enough, the site was still Jewish hands as the store was part of the Burton group, and the family was happy to assist in the archaeological investigation, which saw 25 tons of rubble cleared by hand.

The ‘dig’ continued in some secrecy until the news found its way into the Jewish Chronicle and subsequently attracted national and international attention. Sadly, no specific Jewish artifacts were found, but the site was visited by a number of Jewish historians and archaeologists, many of whom concurred that the evidence pointed to a Jewish structure.

Sophisticated archaeological techniques, however, did throw up some key finds. According to tests on the decorations by the Courtauld Institute, this was the first known building in Britain to use indigo pigment. Traces of eggshell found in the soil, meanwhile, were evidence of the eggs used to prepare the decorative pigments.