Ballarat Synagogue

Male
Places of worship
Synagogue
4 Barkly Street, Ballarat East, Victoria
The Ballarat Synagogue was built in 1861 and regarded as a
highly orthodox synagogue in its early years. It is one of the
few surviving nineteenth century synagogues in Victoria and
one of the oldest still operating on the mainland of Australia.
As the Jewish community began to establish itself in Ballarat, the first Jewish
service was held in the Clarendon Hotel, Lydiard Street, in 1853. This synagogue
in Barkly Street, Ballarat was built in 1861 and designed by architect T. B.
Cameron for the Ballarat Hebrew congregation. Cameron was from England, and
this is his only known building in Australia before he departed for New Zealand.
The specimen of Pinus
Canariensis (Canary Island
Pine) located in front of the
synagogue is one of two
planted in 1867 by Jacob
Bernstein, an active member of
the Hebrew congregation in
Ballarat and committee member
for over thirty years. One tree
was later removed; however the
remaining tree is a fine example
of this species.
Left: The upstairs women’s gallery
HERITAGE COUNCIL & HERITAGE VICTORIA Website: www.heritage.vic.gov.au
Telephone: 96379475, Facsimile: 96379503. Email: heritage.victoria@dpcd.vic.gov.au

Heritage Council of Victoria
Heritage Victoria
Level 7, 8 Nicholson Street
East Melbourne,
Victoria 3002,
Australia
Telephone: 03 96379475
Facsimile: 03 96379503
www.heritage.vic.gov.au
Published by Heritage Council of
Victoria, April 2008.
Also published on
www.heritage.vic.gov.au
© The Heritage Council of Victoria
2008. This publication is copyright. No
part may be reproduced by any
process except in accordance with the
provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.
Authorised by the Heritage Council,
8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne.
Disclaimer
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to you but the State of Victoria and its
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T
The Synagogue is a single
storey rectangular building
designed in a simple
Renaissance Revival style
with a pedimented portico.
The paired Tuscan squared
columns and pilasters support
the portico, the tympanum of
which contains the name of
the congregation, ‘Remnant of
Israel’ in Hebrew characters.
By the 1870s, Jews were
relatively more numerous in
Ballarat than in other Victorian
towns and as a community
they strongly influenced
business life in the town.
The Synagogue was
extensively remodelled in
1878. It was originally
constructed in face brickwork,
with contrast provided by
rendered pilasters, columns,
pediment, window reveals
and cornice.
The 1878 remodelling
included the extension of the
women’s gallery along the
sides of the hall, and the
addition of a second staircase
to the gallery and ante-rooms
towards the front of the
building.
The interior of the building is
significant for its intact
furniture and fittings, including
a cedar Bimah, galleries with
cast iron balustrading (top
right) and cedar-fronted Ark
(right).
The Victorian Heritage Register
The Register was established under the Heritage Act
1995 to protect the most significant places in Victoria. It
covers buildings, archaeological sites including
shipwrecks, industrial heritage, cemeteries, heritage
objects, gardens, trees and cultural landscapes. Over
2,000 places and objects are now on the Victorian
Heritage Register.
The Heritage Council of Victoria decides which places
go on the Register, based on established criteria for
heritage values.