Brick Lane Mosque - History

History

The building was first established in 1743 as a Protestant chapel ("La Neuve Eglise") by London's French Huguenot community. These Huguenots were refugees who had left France to escape persecution from the Catholics. The building survived as a Huguenot chapel for more than six decades. In 1809 it became a Wesleyan chapel, bought by the "London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews" (an organisation now known as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People), but this phase of its history lasted only 10 years. From 1819, the building became a Methodist Chapel.

In the late 19th century, the building at 59 Brick Lane was adopted by yet another community. It became the "Machzike Adass" or "Spitalfields Great Synagogue". During this time, the area was home to many Jewish refugees from Russia and Central Europe. The population of Jews decreased over the years, with many moving to areas of North London. The synagogue, losing its worshippers, was eventually closed.

During the 1970s, the area of Spitalfields and Brick Lane was populated mainly by Bangladeshis who had come to Britain from the Sylhet region looking for better work. Many found work in factories and the textile trade. That growing community required a place of worship, and the building at 59 Brick Lane was bought and refurbished. In 1976, it reopened as a mosque, known as the "London Jamme Masjid". Today, although it has been renamed, it still serves the Bangladeshi community as a mosque.

The former 'Great Synagogue' in Fournier Street is a Grade II* listed building; the adjacent former school buildings (now used as an ancillary building to the mosque) is listed Grade II.