Resettlement of the Jews in England in the context of Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)

British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are citizens of the United Kingdom who are Jewish, forming one of the country’s oldest and most historically significant religious minority communities. Jewish presence in Britain dates to at least the 11th century, when William the Conqueror encouraged Jewish merchants and financiers to migrate from northern France to London. The Jews were expelled from England under Edward I in 1290, but a continuous community was re-established following the readmission of Jews under Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s. From the 18th century onwards, British Jews became increasingly integrated into national life, contributing to commerce, science, literature, and politics while maintaining distinctive religious and communal institutions. Some 60,000-70,000 British Jews served in the British Army during the Second World War, serving in all branches and theatres of war. Prominent British Jews have included Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli; financier and activist Moses Montefiore; scientist Rosalind Franklin; playwright Harold Pinter; businessman Michael Marks; and philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin.

Waves of migration from Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries transformed Jewish life in Britain, particularly in London’s East End, Manchester, and Leeds, substantially increasing the community's numbers while altering its cultural composition. The community has since diversified, including both long-established Anglo-Jewish families and more recent arrivals from Europe, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth.

The history of the Jews in England can be reliably traced to the period following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when England became integrated with the European system for the first time since the Roman evacuation of 410 CE, and thus came to the awareness of the Jewish communities of Continental Europe.The first Jews likely came to England circa 70 CE during the time of Roman rule, but were probably wiped out in the tumultuous period that followed the Roman evacuation, when the Anglo-Saxons gradually took power from the Romano-Celts.

In 1290 King Edward I issued the Edict of Expulsion, expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. After the expulsion, there was no overt Jewish community (as opposed to individuals practising Judaism secretly) until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. While Cromwell never officially readmitted Jews to the Commonwealth of England, a small colony of Sephardic Jews living in London was identified in 1656 and allowed to remain. The Jewish Naturalisation Act 1753, an attempt to legalise the Jewish presence in England, remained in force for only a few months. Historians commonly date Jewish emancipation to either 1829 or 1858, while Benjamin Disraeli, born a Sephardi Jew but converted to Anglicanism, had been elected twice as the prime minister of the United Kingdom in 1868 and in 1874. At the insistence of Irish leader Daniel O'Connell, in 1846 the British law "De Judaismo", which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was repealed.

Synagogues may be considered "oldest" based on different criteria. A number of synagogues that predate the expulsion of the Jews from England have been discovered by archaeologists or by historians in buildings that have been in use for other purposes for many centuries. A second set of synagogues post-dates the legal return of Jews to England in the seventeenth century. Some synagogues have been destroyed or demolished and rebuilt on the same site, so that, while the site or congregation may be very old, the building may be modern. Still other old synagogue buildings exist, but were sold by the congregation and are now used for other purposes, some as churches or mosques, others for everything from residences to school recital halls. And some very old synagogues have been in continuous use as synagogues for many centuries.