February 2017

Secret East
Changing rooms
Rachel Kolsky points out a
striking architectural feature
on the Dalston skyline
At the western end of Shacklewell Lane a
magnificent building topped by a large dome
dominates the landscape.
A mosque for the Turkish-Cypriot community
since 1977, the building dates back to 1903
when it was built as Hackney's
grandest Jewish place of
worship, the Shacklewell Lane
Synagogue.
It provided well for
Hackney’s rapidly growing
Jewish community – earlier
settlers who were escaping
overcrowded Whitechapel.
Being near the Kingsland Road,
it was on a perfect route with good transport links
back to the East End for work.
The building was designed by eminent architect
Lewis Solomon and had seating for 750
worshippers. The foundation stone laid in 1903 by
the Hon N Charles Rothschild is still visible on the
front of the building.
By the 1950s, Hackney’s Jewish community had
26 LOVEEAST
grown to more than100,000. The local Hackney
Downs School was once 50 per-cent Jewish; its
alumni including the Nobel prize-winning author
Harold Pinter. Ridley Road market was then as
Jewish as Petticoat Lane.
Over the years, and as the Jewish community
moved north to Southgate and Cockfosters,
synagogues closed or merged with others.
The local growing Turkish-Cypriot community
needed larger premises and they raised funds to
buy the Shacklewell Lane Synagogue. It become
the first Turkish-Cypriot mosque
in the UK.
In 1983 the dome was added to
the original flat roof and such
is the clever remodelling that
Dalston residents and visitors
alike would never think that the
dome was a recent addition.
Inside, most of the original
fixtures and fittings remain
and the building continues to remind us of the
different immigrant communities of Dalston, past
and present.
Tour guide and historian Rachel is always
seeking the human stories behind the buildings.
You will spot her all over London carrying a
large colourful fluffy flower and with a group of
people following behind. golondontours.com