Barnet has the largest Jewish population in Britain and one of the highest proportions as a percentage of the total population. The Jewish population is 54,084 and represents 15.5% of the population, the highest in the United Kingdom. They have called the town home, playing games at Barnet Copthall's SToneX stadium, which was formerly a community sports stadium and is still used in this capacity thanks to the Saracens using mobile stands for their games. It should be noted that on March 16, 1190, on the eve of the Third Crusade, the Jewish population of York was massacred in the place where Clifford Tower is now located, and King Edward I of England approved the Statute of the Jews (Statutum of Judaism) in 1275, which restricted the activities of the community and, in particular, prohibited the practice of usury (interest collection).The first recorded Jewish community in Britain was brought to England in 1070 by King William the Conqueror, who believed that what he assumed were his commercial skills would make his newly-conquered country more prosperous.
Since 2000, Barnet City Council, together with the other 31 districts of London and the City of London Corporation, have shared local government powers with the Greater London Authority. The most Jewish county in the United Kingdom is Hertfordshire, with 2.23% Jews; it is followed by the City of London, with 2.06%, and Greater London, with 1.63%. Wingate is the last of them based in the district; Hendon and Edgware play in the Brent district, and Barnet F. The district was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 from the Finchley Municipal District, the Hendon Municipal District and the Friern Barnet Urban District of Middlesex and the East Barnet Urban District and the Barnet Urban District of Hertfordshire. There are, in total, more than 26,400 Jews in Hertfordshire, of whom 18,350 are in the district of Hertsmere, in the south-west of Hertfordshire, next to the Jewish areas of Barnet and Harrow.
The least Jewish county or main area in England and Wales is Merthyr Tydfil, which has less than 0.01% of Jews despite having once had a significant community. One of the most famous Jewish schools in the country is the state-funded JFS in London, which opened its doors in 1732 and has about 2100 students. In 1656, Oliver Cromwell made it clear that the prohibition of Jewish settlements in England and Wales would cease to apply, although when Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel submitted a petition to allow the return of Jews, most of the Protectorate Government rejected it. A trickle of Ashkenazi immigration, mainly from German countries, continued from the late 17th to the early 19th century, before a second wave of Ashkenazi immigration, a great wave of Ashkenazi Jewish immigration fleeing persecution from the Russian Empire such as pogroms and May Laws between 1880 and 1905 when stricter immigration restrictions were imposed. In late 19th and early 20th centuries there was a considerable increase in number of Jews due to exodus from Russia which resulted in formation of large community in East End London. This led to Anglo-Jewish women constantly keeping breads, bagels and potatoes at home. The oldest Jewish community in Great Britain is Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community which dates back to 1630s (when it existed clandestinely before readmission) and was unofficially legitimated by 1656 when Jewish community considered readmission to England (which at that time included Wales).
The municipalities of Hertsmere and Barnet are most Jewish local authorities in England with Jews representing one out six and seven residents respectively.
