‘Guernica of Brighton’ saved from demolition after grade two listing

Designed by Derek Sharp Associates between 1966 and 1967 and located on Palmeira Avenue, Hove, the synagogue features stained-glass windows by Welsh artist John Petts that have been compared to Picasso’s Guernica.

The vibrant windows depict biblical scenes such as the burning bush and symbols for Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, as well as a menorah. Broken barbed wire in the design has been linked to the liberation of the Jews from the concentration camps.

Petts also produced glass panels forming the doors of the ark, the first known example of glass being used for ark doors in the UK. According to Historic England, Marc Chagall had been approached to create the ark first, but had declined the commission owing to his age.

Petts said the windows and ark doors were “dedicated to the memory of the six millions of Jewish people murdered by the Nazi regime in Europe”.

In its official listing, Historic England noted: “The windows and ark doors, conceived as a Holocaust memorial, combine artistic ingenuity and flair with an allusive iconographic programme representing the history of the persecution of Jewish people, including subtle references to the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps.”

The Petts windows are, according to Historic England, “probably the best-known example of his stained glass in Britain”.

The body also recognised the synagogue’s “bold form”, with a “distinctive roof profile and pierced brick screens, its architectural interest elevated by John Petts's stained glass which forms a significant feature externally as well as internally.”

Dr Alison Smith, chief curator at the National Portrait Gallery, described the synagogue as unique in serving both as a place of worship and a memorial. She said: “The John Petts windows stand as one of the great religious works of art of the 20th century.

“I can think of no comparable Holocaust memorial of this scale and quality in the UK.”

As well as drawing comparisons between the windows and Picasso’s Guernica, historians have also compared them to Petts’s stained-glass work at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a landmark of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The listing follows the threat of demolition, after synagogue members voted in 2023 to redevelop the site, arguing that the building had surplus space and was too costly to maintain. A local developer planned to replace it with an 18-flat residential block with a smaller synagogue on site.

With around 400 members, the synagogue reportedly has only 30 regular attendees.

The Twentieth Century Society (C20), a charity dedicated to preserving architectural heritage, submitted the listing application to protect the building from redevelopment.

The application stated: “The site is unique in the UK in that it serves as both a Holocaust memorial and a place of worship, with its luminescent east-facing 40ft-long stained-glass windows, designed by Welsh artist John Petts and depicting scenes from the Revelation.”

The society emphasised that “new evidence has since emerged regarding the rarity and significance of the stained-glass windows, demanding the building now be re-appraised for listing.”

After the EGM in 2023, the congregation’s president, Michael Harris, told the JC that plans for the redevelopment would have protected the windows and doors. 

“We are fully aware of, and have always paid great attention to, the importance of our synagogue’s stained-glass windows and ark doors. Our development project, in all its reiterations, has always included plans to ensure these windows and doors are safely and securely looked after, and then prominently displayed in the new building,” Harris said.

This was not the first attempt to secure listed status. In 2017, C20 applied for the synagogue to be listed after prior approval was granted for demolition. However, Historic England declined the request. Several cultural experts, including Hilary Lane MBE, former cultural strategy manager at East Sussex County Council, challenged the decision. The development plans eventually fell through.