Blue Plaque in Copenhagen Street honouring Jewish community

Dignitaries and residents met at the corner of Copenhagen Street to unveil the blue plaque, which is a reminder of the persecution the city's Jewish community suffered throughout history.

During the Middle Ages there was a small Jewish community in Worcester with the first reference of a small community from 1154.

There is evidence that there may have been a Jewish Quarter in Cooken Street (now Copenhagen Street).

READY: Members of the community meet before the unveiling

During this time, Worcester, at the behest of Henry III, played host to a national gathering of England’s leading Jews to levy a tax on about a third of their property. 

During the medieval period, Worcester was one of 26 Jewish centres to have an archa or official document store for Jewish records.

The archa was an official chest, provided with three locks and seals, in which a counterpart of all deeds and contracts involving Jews was to deposited in order to preserve the records.

The introduction of archae was part of the reorganisation of English Jewry ordered by King Richard I in light of the massacre of Jews that took place in 1189-1190.

PLAQUE: The plaque remembering Worcester's Jews

In 1263, during the Baronial Wars, Worcester’s Jewish community was attacked by the Earls of Leicester and Derby.

However, Jews continued to live in Worcester until 1275 when Edward I drove them out of the city.

Edward's mother, Eleanor of Provence, had insisted on it.

It was only 15 years later, in 1290, that Jews were expelled from England altogether, having suffered prejudice, repression, and persecution, at one time or another throughout England, by civic and church leaders and the Crown.

They were not to return for over 300 years.

MEETING: Dignitaries including Cllrs Adrian Gregson, Jabba Riaz and Robin Walker MP

Speaking at the event, chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: "The story of the small but prominent Jewish community of Worcester shines a light on what it was to be a Jew in Medieval England.

"Despite living in a society which was frequently hostile to Jews, they remained committed to their faith and to making a contribution of real value to the prosperity of the country.

"As such, the unveiling of this plaque sends a powerful message to contemporary British society of the importance of industriousness, generosity and respect for all people."