Gurdwaras will be a part of UK heritage

LONDON: Over 200 gurdwaras across the United Kingdom will be considered a part of British heritage following the completion of a major doctoral project by the University of Leicester that explored their structures, growth and use since the first Sikh place of worship was set up in 1908.

The project, co-supervised by an expert from Historic England — adviser to the British government on the protection and management of the historic environment in England –—was conducted by researcher Clare Canning last week.

“Prior to this research, very little was known about the development of Sikh gurdwaras in England outside of the Sikh community. Whilst some gurdwaras have heritage listed status, this is due to the previous use and function of the gurdwara building, with little recognition of its use as a Sikh place of worship,” Canning said on Saturday:

Sikh migration to Britain is largely considered a post-war story, sparked by a boom in industry and apparent shortage of labour in the reconstruction of post-war Britain, as well as the partition of India in 1947, and Africanisation programmes of Kenya and Uganda in the 1960s and 70s.

“There is now an obvious need to incorporate dynamic change into heritage frameworks in a positive way, in order to appropriately recognise the significance of Sikh heritage in the built landscape of England,” Canning said.

Linda Monckton of Historic England said: “The project came about because although we knew that many gurdwaras were re-used from existing, often historic, buildings, we needed to better understand the specific way in which gurdwaras are valued ...”

Canning noted that the first gurdwara, the Khalsa Jatha British Isles, was formed in 1908 by a group of Sikhs studying at Cambridge University. With the financial assistance of the Maharajah of Patiala it later opened in 1913, in a terraced property.