The Western Marble Arch Synagogue is a Jewish place of worship in central London.
The WMA is the result of a merger between the Western and the Marble Arch Synagogues, with the former congregation dating back to 1761. The Synagogue came into existence as a result of the successful merger between the Western Synagogue and the Marble Arch Synagogue (founded in 1957).
The Westminster synagogue was founded in 1761 in Great Pulteney Street, Westminster. The congregation first met in the home of Wold Liepman, a prosperous immigrant merchant from St. Petersburg. A series of leased spaces followed until 1826 when the congregation built an elaborate synagogue in St. Alban’s Place, Haymarket and renamed itself The Western Synagogue.
The Marble Arch Synagogue came into existence in 1957 under the auspices of the United Synagogue to replace the Great Synagogue which was destroyed by enemy action during the 2nd World War.
The merger in 1991 of these two great central London Synagogues, one being an Independent Synagogue and one being a part of the United Synagogue, was the first of its kind to have taken place in this country.
