The existence of a Hebrew street name in the surviving 1344-5 Borough Rentals may indicate the presence of a Jewish community in Birmingham in the 13th century - a period of significant economic growth for the expanding market town.
Birmingham's developing industry attracted Jewish settlers as early as 1730 and there was already a synagogue in a private house in the area of today's New Street Station in 1791, when a purpose-built synagogue was constructed in Hurst Street.