Haunting images show abandoned Liverpool synagogue – empty for the last 15 years
Decaying, rotten, damp and full of bird filth, new photographs reveal the bleak remains of Greenbank shul, derelict since closing in 2008, as developers struggle with planning permission.
A bimah coated in graffiti, rusty plaques, piles of dust, dirt and pigeon feathers; this is the eerie scene captured in a series of haunting images of what was one of the UK’s most historic synagogues, abandoned for the last 15 years.
The stark pictures, taken by a photographer spotlighting abandoned buildings, reveal the shell of the former Ark shul, known as Greenbank Synagogue, near Sefton Park in Liverpool.
Once the centre of the city’s thriving Jewish community, established before 1750, developers have been struggling to complete its redevelopment.
While the images show abandoned furniture, debris, mould, fallen plaster and detritus filling the once beautiful building, the last senior warden of Greenbank doesn’t want the building to be described as ‘abandoned’.
Jeff Shulkind told Jewish News: “The shul closed because financially it had to, 15 years ago, and it was sold to a developer 10 years ago to be converted into flats, while at the same time satisfying the requirements of its 2* listed status. At the time the developer’s plans were agreed by all concerned.”
Since then, Shulkind continued, the developer “has had all kinds of problems with planning permission and other issues with the City Council which has sadly seriously delayed the project, totally out of control of the ex trustees. I believe that there are signs now that things have started to get moving again and we hope this will lead to a successful completion of the project in the near future.”
The main prayer hall is hauntingly deserted, the wooden seats decayed and covered in bird faeces, the floor ruined by mould and damp. Paint is chipped and peeling off the walls, floorboards destroyed, the bimah defaced with graffiti declaring ‘Death 2 Nazis’ scrawled over a scribbled black painted swastika. The ceiling plaster is ruined, glass panes are broken and metalwork bent out of shape.
Shulkind tells Jewish News that “all the Kosher Sefarim (Torah scrolls) were sold 15 years ago and the posul (invalid) ones were buried, with the exception of one, which if I remember rightly was stolen. No sefarim have been in that building since we sold it to the developers.”
Built around 1936/1937 and designed by architect Ernest Alfred Shennan, the foundation stone was laid on 14 June 1936 by Baron Tobias Globe attended by the then Chief Rabbi, Dr J H Hertz.
With seating for 700 people, it opened its doors in 1937.
Membership grew to 340 by 1938, increasing to 582 in 1955 and then declining to 120 in 1999. It eventually closed in 2008 following a sharp decline in the city’s Jewish population.
In 2019, so-called ‘urban explorers’ fell through the roof of the shul building.
Gillian Baum, originally from Liverpool, told Jewish News: “Greenbank was a gorgeous synagogue but location and a decline in members meant that changes had to be made. The other two remaining shuls are Childwall (which backs on to the Jewish school, King David) and Princess Road which is also listed but based in Toxteth; so it’s only used for weddings and barmitvahs as it’s really beautiful and gold inside. However, they don’t have a daily or weekly service there now. Most of my generation moved to Manchester or London where there was more of a Jewish scene.”
In 2010 it was put on the ‘at risk’ register by Historic England.
Planning permission was given to company NC Architecture in 2017 to convert the building into 22 apartments and build 36 new apartments within the grounds. The scheme failed and in 2021 it was listed for sale for just under £5 million.
Max Marcus, chair of the Merseyside Rep Council told Jewish News: “The shul building was sold but the land was only ever rented from Liverpool City Council. Development has apparently been delayed as (there are) a lot of building works in Liverpool but otherwise there’s an intent that the present owners of the building convert it into flats.”
Childwall synagogue is now the primary shul used by the Jewish community.
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