March 2013:
LINCOLN, Jew's Court.
For our March 2013 visit we went to Jew’s Court which is on Steep Hill in Lincoln. This is now the headquarters of the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology (SLHA) and our guides were Rod Callow who is the Administrator for the Society and Professor Brian Winston who is a member of the Lincoln Jewish Community.
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Left to right: Jew's Court - the Synagogue is the room top left immediately under the roof. The Ark closed showing the Star of David. The Ark open showing the niche in which the Scroll is stored.
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Professor Brian Winston having placed the scroll on the cloth reading from it.
There has been a building on this site for around a thousand years but there have been alterations and additions which make it difficult to give exact dates for much of the building and it has had many uses.
The Lincolnshire Archaeology and Architectural Society (LAAS) was founded in 1844 and over the years other Societies have amalgamated with LAAS. In the 1930s Jew’s Court was given to LAAS to save it from demolition and in 1974 the LAAS changed its name to SLHA. The Society has groups which are interested in all aspects of local history except Family History which is catered for by the Lincolnshire Family History Society.
Since September 1992 an upper room in Jew’s Court has been established as a Synagogue but there is evidence of a Jewish community in Lincoln from at least the twelfth century. Although it is reasonably certain that there was a Synagogue here from an early date it is not clear where this was. Some authorities suggest that it was in the very room which is now used for this purpose. I think this is mainly because of the niche in one of the walls which is now used as the Ark. It is more likely that the medieval synagogue was to the rear of the present building.
Brian opened the Ark and displayed the Scroll. The Ark of the Covenant is so called after the chest in which the original stones carved with the Ten Commandments were placed (see Exodus Chapter 25 verses 10 to 25). The chest was wrapped in a blue cloth. Each Jewish community had a scroll on which the Commandments were hand written (in Hebrew). Most of these scrolls were destroyed during the Holocaust but that which is now in the Ark at Jew’s Court survived in Czechoslovakia and is believed to date from the eighteenth century. Before taking the scroll from the Ark Brian first put a cloth on a table on which to place it. He then unrolled and read (in Hebrew) from the scroll.
Regular services are held in Jew’s Court and a wedding was celebrated in the Synagogue in 2004.
Both our guides gave informative and fascinating talks about the history of Jew’s Court itself and of the Jewish Community in Lincoln. The 23 members of the group had a most moving and interesting morning.
Acknowledgments : I am grateful to Fiona Flemmings, Joan Ketteringham, Max Kitchen , Ken Redmore and Michael Vallance for assistance in several ways with this article.
The Lincolnshire Archaeology and Architectural Society (LAAS) was founded in 1844 and over the years other Societies have amalgamated with LAAS. In the 1930s Jew’s Court was given to LAAS to save it from demolition and in 1974 the LAAS changed its name to SLHA. The Society has groups which are interested in all aspects of local history except Family History which is catered for by the Lincolnshire Family History Society.
Since September 1992 an upper room in Jew’s Court has been established as a Synagogue but there is evidence of a Jewish community in Lincoln from at least the twelfth century. Although it is reasonably certain that there was a Synagogue here from an early date it is not clear where this was. Some authorities suggest that it was in the very room which is now used for this purpose. I think this is mainly because of the niche in one of the walls which is now used as the Ark. It is more likely that the medieval synagogue was to the rear of the present building.
Brian opened the Ark and displayed the Scroll. The Ark of the Covenant is so called after the chest in which the original stones carved with the Ten Commandments were placed (see Exodus Chapter 25 verses 10 to 25). The chest was wrapped in a blue cloth. Each Jewish community had a scroll on which the Commandments were hand written (in Hebrew). Most of these scrolls were destroyed during the Holocaust but that which is now in the Ark at Jew’s Court survived in Czechoslovakia and is believed to date from the eighteenth century. Before taking the scroll from the Ark Brian first put a cloth on a table on which to place it. He then unrolled and read (in Hebrew) from the scroll.
Regular services are held in Jew’s Court and a wedding was celebrated in the Synagogue in 2004.
Both our guides gave informative and fascinating talks about the history of Jew’s Court itself and of the Jewish Community in Lincoln. The 23 members of the group had a most moving and interesting morning.
Acknowledgments : I am grateful to Fiona Flemmings, Joan Ketteringham, Max Kitchen , Ken Redmore and Michael Vallance for assistance in several ways with this article.
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