Situated in the City of London, just off the ancient thoroughfare of Bevis Marks, the Synagogue was opened in 1701 and the oldest still in use in Britain.
Jews first arrived in England with William the Conqueror, but following an edict of Edward I, were expelled from England in 1290. For more than 350 years there were no Jewish communities or places of worship in Britain. In Catholic countries the cruelties of the Inquisition forced some Jews to convert outwardly to Catholicism whilst, in secret, adhering to the faith of their fathers. In the early 17th century some of these crypto-Jews, known as Marranos', came from Portugal via Hamburg or Amsterdam, to settle in the City of London. But they were still forbidden to practise their religion openly.
In 1655 a group of such Jews addressed a petition to Oliver Cromwell, requesting freedom to worship and to re-admit Jews to England. Cromwell gave tacit approval and, as a result, in 1656 the upper floor of a house in Creechuch Lane (a stone's throw from Bevis Marks) was opened for use as a place of worship. Towards the end of the century a new synagogue was planned on the Bevis Marks site. Construction was entrusted in 1699 to Joseph Avis, a Quaker, and the building was completed in 1701 at a cost of £2650; it is said that Mr Avis refused to make a profit from building a house of God and returned all surplus money to the Congregation.
It is also believed that Princess (Later Queen) Anne presented an oak beam from a Royal Navy ship for use as a roof support for the Synagogue building.
In 1992 and 1993 the Synagogue suffered great damage from terrorist bomb attacks on the City of London. Nearly £200,000 was raised by donation and has since been spent in repairing and renovating the structure to return it to its former glory. As it approaches its tercentenary, the Bevis Marks Synagogue appears much as it did on its opening day in 1701.