[1] The synagogue building was completed in 1839, designed by William Hill Knight in the Regency style.

[2] The congregation first met in around 1820 in a hired space at the St George's Place entrance to Manchester Walk.

[6][7] It reopened in 1939 to serve as an evacuation centre for those who were being rehoused from London, refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, and soldiers stationed in nearby bases, including a number of Americans.

The synagogue's chaste Regency facade features Doric pilasters and a pediment.

The Georgian Torah ark and bimah are reused elements of the London New Synagogue in Leadenhall Street from 1761.