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JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
NOTE: We are not the website of this congregation, which has now
merged.
Please see the page for the merged
congregation, as indicated below.
City of Chelmsford
The city of
Chelmsford, the county town of Essex with a population of about
110,000, is situated about 35 miles northeast of London. The present administration was formed in 1974, when the municipal
borough of Chelmsford merged with the surrounding Chelmsford Rural District to form the local government district (later borough) of Chelmsford,
remaining within the
administrative county of Essex.
Chelmsford was granted city status on 1 June 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II
Chelmsford Jewish Community
Earliest press reports found indicate the presence of Jewish residents in Chelmsford from the 1830s. Shopkeepers and traders in 19th century Chelmsford include the Cohen, Myers and Jonas families.
However, the first Jewish congregation, known as the Chelmsford Jewish Community,
was not founded until the 1970s. There was later an abortive attempt to
establish a formal reform congregation. In 2026, the community
merged with the neighbouring Harlow community to form the Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community.
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Congregation Data |
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Name: |
Chelmsford Jewish Community |
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Address: |
Services were held in Central Chelmsford |
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Former Addresses: |
The community previously held services at a number of venues, including:
Merlin House, 23 Parker Street, Chelmsford CM2 0ES(ii)
11 Haig Street, Chelmsford, CH2 0BH(iii)
and Springfield Lyon House, Springfield Lyon Approach, Chelmsford CM2 5LB(iv) |
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Date Founded: |
1974(v) |
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Current Status: |
By mid-2025, for some time
members of the community had only held occasional services by Zoom and
had not met in person except for social and cultural events.
In February 2026, the community merged with
the Harlow Jewish Community, some 20 miles to the west, to form the
Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community.(vi) |
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Ritual: |
not orthodox, but was established
"to provide for local Jewish people of all shades of religious observance
and background."(vii) |
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Affiliation: |
The community was unaffiliated, although it was founded under the sponsorship of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain (later the
Movement for Reform Judaism).(viii)
Upon the merger in February 2026, the new community became a constituent
community of the
Movement for Progressive Judaism) |
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Ministers: |
None listed |
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JSCN Link: |
Click on Chelmsford Jewish Community
(a member community), on the Jewish Small Communities Network website.
(Still active as of February 2026) |
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Abortive Rival Congregation: |
There was an attempt to establish a formal reform congregation, the
Chelmsford Reform Synagogue Group, which collapsed and
ended in disarray. |
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Membership Data: |
National Reports and Surveys:(x)
1977 - 50 male (or household) members and
estimated 50 female members
1983 - 32 male (or household) members and estimated 39 female members
1990 - 58 members (comprising
54 households and 4 individual male members)
1996 - 69 members (comprising 40 households,
4 individual male and 25 individual female members)
2010 & 2016 - listed as having under 50 members (by household) Other
2019 - 60 plus families(xi) |
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Charitable Status: |
As of February 2026,
Chelmsford Jewish Community was still a registered charity
(no.
281498), registered on
6 February 1981. The governing document is
the congregation's constitution, as amended 12 December 1978 and
15 October 1980.(xii) |
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Registration District: |
Essex (since 1 February 2010)(xiii) -
Link to Register Office website |
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Cemetery Information: |
Chelmsford does not have its own Jewish
cemetery. The Congregation had a Burial Scheme in association with the
Jewish Joint Burial Society
(JJBS), under whose auspices burials take place at the Western Cemetery, Bulls Cross Ride, Waltham Cross. Funerals
also included woodland and lawn burials.
In addition to these facilities, the JJBS offers cremation at Hoop Lane Crematorium,
Golders Green.(xiv) |
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Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)
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Online Articles, Videos and Other Material
relating to the Chelmsford Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
on third party websites
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Blue Plaque
unveiled 2021
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Notable Jewish Connections with
Chelmsford
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Godfrey Charles Isaacs (1866-1925). born London, brother of Rufus Isaacs, first Marquess of Reading,
industrialist and advocate of a single public broadcasting company funded by a licence fee,
managed and grew the large Marconi works in Chelmsford, and opened the world's
first purpose-built wireless factory there.
In 2021, a blue plaque to him was unveiled by the Chelmsford Civic Society at the site of the Marconi Power House, 1 Dunn Side.
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Chelmsford Jewish Population Data
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1999
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143 |
(The Jewish Year Book 2000) |
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2004 |
155 |
(The Jewish Year Book 2005) |
Jewish Congregations in Essex
List of
Unaffiliated Progressive Congregations
List of Member Synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society
Jewish Communities of England home page
Page created: 30 November 2005
Page enhanced and notes added: 15 August 2019
Page most recently amended:
17 February 2026
Research and formatting by David Shulman
Explanation of Terms |
About JCR-UK |
JCR-UK home page
Contact JCR-UK Webmaster:
jcr-ukwebmaster@jgsgb.org.uk
(Note: This is to contact JCR-UK, not the above Congregation)
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