Langside Synagogue, 125, Niddrie Road, Langside

A two-storey, roughly T-plan former synagogue designed by Waddell & Young, 1926-1927, with interior features by Harris Berkowitch, cabinetmaker. The building incorporates a mixture of neo-Romanesque and neoclassical styles. It is located on Niddrie Road, near the intersection of Queen's Drive, a principal road through the residential area of Crosshill. The principal elevation is of coursed rubble sandstone with ashlar panels and dressings. The other elevations are rendered. (Historic Environment Scotland List Entry)

Langside Synagogue was established on Langside Road in 1915. The synagogue moved here to 125 Niddrie Road, to a design by architects Jeffrey Waddell & Young with a Romanesque style façade. It re-opened in 1927. The building has a traditional immigrant shul interior. The Ark (two-tiers made of timber and gilding in traditional Eastern European style), bimah and decorative details including the clock on the gallery front were carved by a Lithuanian-born cabinet-maker called Harris Berkovitch (c. 1876–1956), who was a member of the congregation. Woodcarving and wall-painting in folk-art style was a characteristic of synagogue building particularly in Poland, Ukraine, and Romania. The tall upper tier includes large gilded Luhot (Tablets of the Law) with painted glass panels to either side, and the pediment contains a Keter Torah (Crown of the Torah) with gilded sunrays, both motifs found in traditional Jewish art. It is one of the only two (the other being in London) truly Eastern European-style synagogue interiors in Britain. (Information from South Glasgow Heritage Environment Trust website).

20 December 2019: Member of public nominates building for inclusion on register on the grounds that it closed due to a declining congregation in 2014 and has been out-of-use ever since. They report that it has since been sold to a private developer.

16 February 2021: Nominated by Govanhill Baths Archive. For Investigation.

Herald Scotland reports on the upcoming sale by auction of the vacant synagogue (14/02/21).

Property will be marketed for sale through auction on 25th February 2021 (unconditional online auction sale under a guide price of £650,000) by Online Property Auctions Scotland Ltd.

12 April 2023: External inspection finds the building to be vacant and secured. The walls appear generally stable but suffering from some decay. There are signs of damp around broken or failing rainwater goods. Sections of render on the side elevations are damaged and there is horizontal cracking of the render below the rainwater goods. The windows are protected by a combination of metal mesh and timber sheets, although some glazing has been broken on the south elevation. The front entry door is secure but has been graffitied, along with a large section of the extension to the rear . The iron railings at the front are intact with some slight rusting. There are no signs of unauthorised access visible. Move to At Risk.