Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue, built in the late 1960s, was at risk of being demolished to make space for a block of residential flats.
However, the Twentieth Century Society (C20) submitted a listing application in 2023, and the synagogue has now been granted Grade II status.
This makes it the only second post-war synagogue in England to receive this national listing.
The synagogue is not only a place of worship but also a unique memorial dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust.
Central stained glass panel. (Image: John East/C20 Society) It features 40ft-long stained-glass windows designed by John Petts, which have been described as “one of the great religious artworks of the 20th century”, drawing comparisons to Picasso’s Guernica, the C20 Society said.
The windows are composed of 1,800 pieces of vibrant coloured glass, depicting motifs from the Hebrew Bible and Jewish feasts, interwoven with images of barbed wire and chains broken by a sapling.
The foundation stone in the foyer reads: “In dedication to the glory of God and in memory of the 6 million Jews who perished in the concentration camps during the 1939-1945 World War.
“In honour of the dead as a warning to the living.”
Right stained glass window. (Image: John East/C20 Society) The synagogue was designed by architects Derek Sharp Associates and built in the late 1960s.
In 2023, plans were proposed by a local developer to demolish the building to make way for a block of 18 residential flats, with a smaller replacement synagogue elsewhere on the site.
However, the C20 Society applied for the synagogue to be listed in August 2023, after new evidence emerged regarding the rarity and significance of the stained-glass windows.
After an 18-month wait, Historic England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport confirmed the Grade II listing in April 2025.
This has been met with delight by local campaigners.
Left stained glass window. (Image: John East/C20 Society) The synagogue is a modernist building with a triple barrel-vaulted roof, perforated brick screens, and a semi-circular concrete canopy.
It stands at the corner of Palmeira Avenue and Eaton Road, neighbouring the Sussex County Cricket Ground.
Inside, the prayer hall can accommodate up to 630 worshippers.
The construction of the building was a community endeavour, with every member of the synagogue asked to donate towards the new building.
Catherine Croft, director at C20 Society, said: “The Brighton and Hove Synagogue has outstanding cultural significance: its post-war architecture and artwork is exceptional, and it has major communal value as a Holocaust memorial and as a social and spiritual centre.
“With the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz being commemorated in 2025, the destruction of this luminescent memorial would have been unthinkable.
“It richly deserves its place on the National Register.”
Ark in stained glass. (Image: John East/C20 Society) Dr Alison Smith, director of collections and research at the Wallace Collection, said: “Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue is unique in that it serves as a memorial as well as a place of worship, and as such it was intended to last for generations.
“The John Petts windows stand as one of the great religious works of art of the 20th century, comparable to John Piper’s stained glass in Coventry Cathedral, in encapsulating the suffering and enduring spirit of Jewish people in the face of the horrors unleashed during the Holocaust.”
Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “This is far more than a building; it’s a place of memory, of community and of profound emotional significance.
“In protecting this space, we’re also safeguarding the stories, the lives and the lessons it holds.”
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