When the Garnethill Synagogue in Glasgow was dedicated in 1879, it was the first purpose-built synagogue in Scotland. Jews began coming to Glasgow in the 19th century – Isaac Cohen is credited as being the first to arrive, and the man to introduce the silk top hat into Scotland. The first synagogue in the city was started in a tenement building in the High Street, but soon the numbers outgrew the space.

By the 1870s, Glasgow’s Jewish population had reached 700 and the rented building in George Street, where the synagogue was then based, was too small. So, the congregation raised £14,000 and an L-shaped plot was purchased on the corner of Garnethill and Hill Street, in a hilly western suburb, near the centre of the city.

John McLeod, a local architect, was commissioned to build the synagogue, assisted by Nathan Solomon Joseph, who had worked on several synagogues in London. McLeod’s design is a mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine influences, using inlaid wood, marble and gilt on the highly decorative Ark, set in an apse on the eastern wall. This houses the Torah scrolls, in which the five books of Moses are hand written on parchment.

The building is A-listed. ‘It certainly doesn’t need to be as ornate as this,’ says Gerald Levin, who is president of the synagogue. ‘A modern Ark could be in a cupboard.’ A stained glass window, which is situated above the choir, is a legacy of the George Street days and bought from the building’s owners.

The synagogue is built for an orthodox congregation, with women sitting upstairs in the gallery and taking no part in the service. Downstairs sit the male members of the congregation – you need ten men over the age of 13 in order to hold a service – each has their own seat, which they pay for to subsidise the upkeep of the synagogue. The nearer the front, the more expensive the seat and they are often passed from father to son.Levin may be president, but he still sits in his father’s old seat in the back row.

The congregation is now about 200. ‘It used to be the hub of the community,’ says Levin, and many of Glasgow’s Jewish organisations originated from the synagogue. After the Second World War, there were about 15,000 Jews in Glasgow, in all walks of life. Many have married ‘out’ nowadays, or moved away to Israel or other countries and cities, so the population is dwindling. Levin reckons it is about 5,000 now, served by five orthodox and one liberal synagogue.

Garnethill synagogue's stained glass windows