Judaism - local history

Local history
The first Jews arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror in 1066. Most of the Jews who came to Britain came from Russia and Eastern Europe around 1881.
In 1914, there were around 150,000 Jews living in the Whitechapel and Aldgate area. More Jews arrived in the 1930s as refugees from the Nazis during World War 2.
Tower Hamlets is seen as the starting place for the British Jewish community. The borough has lots of Jewish buildings, like synagogues and schools, hospitals and soup kitchens.

The history of Sandy’s Row Synagogue off Middlesex Street, E1
Sandy’s Row Synagogue is the oldest Ashkenazi Synagogue in London that is still used today. It was built in 1866 as a chapel by Dutch workers living in London.
Many Jewish people who use the Sandy’s Row Synagogue are from the same families as the Dutch workers long ago. There are orange colours in the decoration inside the building — this is because orange is the national colour for Dutch people.