South East London Synagogue
Between 1889 and 1905 this was located in a temporary iron structure at Lausanne Road, Peckham. Services had initially begun in a house at 452 New Cross Road in 1888, and then moved to two rooms in Nettleton Road, New Cross.
Plans for construction of a purpose-built synagogue and classrooms were discussed in 1896.
In March 1905 it moved to New Cross Road. After bombing in December 1940 a new synagogue was built in 1956. It closed in 1985 and the building became the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall.
Peckham Mosque
The first mosque in Peckham was at 51 Fenwick Road, the home of Khalid Sheldrake. Born Bertie William Sheldrake, (1888–1947), he was a pickle manufacturer who converted to Islam in 1903. From about 1905 he began conducting prayers at his house in Peckham, and also held several well-attended open-air meetings on Peckham Rye.
Sheldrake was hon. president of the Western Islamic Association and supported the construction of the first purpose-built mosque in London which opened on 23 October 1926 in Southfields, Wandsworth.
