I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for a while, so if you are wondering why it looks so much warmer and sunnier – that would be because they were taken in August! Nearby to us in Woking, we have the first purpose built mosque in the Uk – Shah Jahan Mosque. It was built in 1889 by Dr Wilheim Leitner. It is interesting to have such a historical mosque nearby to us, and it’s not just a historical place to visit. As well as being the first mosque in the UK, it’s still a fully used mosque for all the daily prayers. You can read about the history of it on Wikipedia if you wanted to know a bit more. It is a Sunni mosque now (we are Sunni like most Muslims in the UK) but had a brief Ahmadiyya period and a few years of being un-used.
Sometimes when we have some relatives over visiting the UK my husband takes them to this mosque since it is the oldest mosque in the UK and it is a lot more beautiful and impressively built than a lot of the mosques we normally go to. The architecture is really nice . The below pictures are from a visit with the kids to the mosque over the summer, and are taken by my husband (catbaba)
Front, and side views of the Mosque. It’s now a grade 2 listed building.
The are some gardens and fountains outside, and here are the kids exploring those:
For ages Mr T had a thing about wearing that builders hat everywhere!
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from inside the mosque but I just wanted to share these. It’s quite interesting to find out about the history of Islam in Britain.
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I used to live until 18 months ago in Westfield, Woking. I love this building, it’s stunning, makes a lovely change from a lot of the otherwise concrete structures, especially those popping up.
Lovely post, I miss Woking terribly so it’s lovely to read and see pictures 🙂
It looks very beautiful.
Loving the history to go with this, staggered that it was built so early. Makes for a fun place to go and explore looking at the interest on those little faces. Thanks for joining me for Country Kids.
I always think mosques look so beautiful and calming. This one is no exception. Really beautiful.
Such a magnificent building – so much colour and shape.
What a beautiful mosque.
It’s great to introduce them to their culture.
They are so beautiful building!
What a fab post and so interesting. I love reading about history, especially when it’s significant local history. Fab photos too. Popping over from UK Bloggers
What a beautiful building.
Oh, it’s beautiful. I have always loved mosques and that garden and fountain is so lovely x
What a lovely place. Is it possible for people to go and visit it, even if they’re not Muslim? It would be an interesting place to have a tour of.
Looks like a stunning building from the outside, I bet its just as stunning on the inside
It’s very pretty – much smaller than I expected! There was a really nice looking mosque in Derby – the schoolkids always went on visits but I never managed to go inside!
That really is a beautiful piece of architecture – so ornate! Did your children enjoy it?
That really is a beautiful piece of architecture – so ornate! Did your children enjoy it?
What a wonderful building – incredible its so old. Beautiful though. Mr T looks great in his hat! Fabulous photos, thank you so much for sharing with #whatsthestory
What a beautiful building, I love the architecture of mosques, very simple, but so effective. #whatsthestory
What a beautiful building – i hope you enjoyed it x
Islamic architecture is so beautiful I really don’t understand why some people kick up such a stink about minarets in their skyline *sigh*
Lovely pictures and thanks for a post that finds something positive to say about Islam in Britain.
Really beautiful architecture. Stunning.
Such a beautiful building, thanks for sharing x
What a gorgeous building! There is a massive Sikh temple where I grew up in Kent that I’d like to have a look around, that reminds me to find out about the open days 🙂
It’s a beautiful building from the outside. Thanks for the post
It’s a beautiful building – the palm trees next to it look a little out of place next to our native species!
What fantastic pics! I love the architecture of old churches, but have never visited a mosque before – the building is stunning. Thank you for sharing 🙂
What a amazing looking building.I’ve never visited a mosque before, I’m not sure where the nearest one is.
It’s very interesting to read about this mosque. Its’great that you got the chanc eto visit there.
Is that a Bob the Builder hat? Lovely piece of history and photos to match!
It’s a beautiful building. I wasn’t expecting it to have been built so long ago.
amazing! It looks so pretty! x
Very beautiful and interesting. Will be showing this to kids – I’m sure they’ll be really interested.
Great photos! I love historical buildings. Looks fab.
I have to be very naive and say I had no clue that a mosque could be that old in the UK. Such a pretty building & grounds. I can totally see why you take visitors there. Thanks so very much for linking up to #SundayTraveler this week, I’ll head over and pin this now too if that’s okay.
What a beautiful building
It’s always surprising when you find the most interesting things right in your backyard! I really like exploring places of worship – they’re so beautiful and this one is no different. Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler! See you next week 🙂
That mosque is beautiful! Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler this week. I hope you come back tomorrow and link up! 🙂
So beautiful!