Photograph of the exterior of Pontypridd Synagogue, together with members of the congregation, 1920-1930s

Disgrifiad

Black and white photograph of the exterior of Pontypridd Synagogue, Cliff Terrace. The photograph shows approximately 30 men, mostly members of the congregation, standing at the front entrance of the synagogue. The date of the photograph is likely to be 1920-1930s.

A synagogue was first founded in Pontypridd in 1867, when a school room was converted into a place of worship, but the Jewish community dates back to at least the 1840s. Although the membership of the congregation remained small, the congregation established their own section in the Glyntaff Cemetery in the 1890s and built a synagogue in Treforest in 1895. The congregation was dissolved in 1978 and the Wood Road synagogue was sold and converted to flats.

Sources:
'The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales' by Cai Parry-Jones (http://e.bangor.ac.uk/4987);
JCR-UK/JewishGen (https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/community/val1_tredegar/index.htm);
Jewish Year Book (JYB), 1896-1929.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.