Freemasons' Hall, London
Encyclopedia
Freemasons' Hall in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...
and a meeting place for the Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
s in the London area. It is in Great Queen Street
Great Queen Street
Great Queen Street is a street in central London, England in the West End. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east...
between Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
and Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1775. There have been three Masonic buildings on the site, with the current incarnation being opened in 1933.
Original Concept
In 1775 the premier Grand Lodge purchased a house fronting the street, behind which was a garden and a second house. A competition was held for the design of a Grand Hall to link the two houses. The front house was the Freemasons' Tavern, the back house was to become offices and meeting rooms. The winning design was by Thomas SandbyThomas Sandby
Thomas Sandby was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. Along with his younger brother Paul, he became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was its first professor of architecture...
.
Current Building
The current building, the third on this site, was built between 1927 and 1933 in the art decoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style to the designs of architects Henry Victor Ashley and F. Winton Newman as a memorial to the 3,225 Freemasons who died on active service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
It is an imposing art deco building, covering two and one quarter acres. Initially known as the Masonic Peace Memorial, the name was changed to Freemasons' Hall at the outbreak of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1939. The financing for building the hall was raised by the Masonic Million Memorial Fund. This fund raised over £1 million.
It is a Grade II* listed building.
Grand Temple
Central to the present building is the Grand Temple, meeting place for Grand LodgeGrand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
, Grand Chapter and the annual meetings of a number of the Home Counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
Provincial Grand Lodges, and occasionally for other Masonic degrees and orders and indeed non-Masonic organisations. Masonic bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
doors, each weighing one and a quarter tonnes, open on to a Chamber 123 feet (37.5 m) long, 90 feet (27.4 m) wide and 62 feet (18.9 m) high capable of seating 1,700. The ceiling cove is of Mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
work and in addition to figures and symbols from Masonic ritual includes, in the corner, figures representing the four cardinal virtues - Prudence
Prudence
Prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues .The word comes from Old French prudence , from Latin...
, Temperance
Temperance (virtue)
Temperance has been studied by religious thinkers, philosophers, and more recently, psychologists, particularly in the positive psychology movement. It is considered a virtue, a core value that can be seen consistently across time and cultures...
, Fortitude, and Justice
Justice (virtue)
Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues in classical European philosophy and Roman Catholicism. It is the moderation between selfishness and selflessness....
- and the Arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the shared British and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha royal family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the 10th since Canadian Confederation.Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and...
(youngest son of Queen Victoria) Grand Master
Grand Master (Masonic)
In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....
1901-1939, at whose suggestion the Masonic Peace memorial was built. A large pipe organ is installed, built by the leading British organ builders Henry Willis & Sons
Henry Willis & Sons
thumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...
.
Other Temples
In addition to the Grand Temple, there are a further 23 masonic temples within the building. All are highly ornate in their various art deco styles, and no two are identical. Amongst the temples which are of particular note: Temple No 1 is very large (seating up to 600) and contains a series of portraits of former Grand MastersGrand Master (Masonic)
In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....
of England and Wales; Temple No 10 (where the designers had additional height and space due to its location beneath the large clock tower) is built in a style which combines classic art deco with Egyptian design, and includes an impressive domed ceiling; Temple No 17 enjoys a more than usually ornate decorative style and far more ante-room (storage and changing) space than most temples of its size, and is used in particular by the most ancient lodges in London, including the three remaining lodges (of four originals) which pre-date 1717 and the formation of the Grand Lodge itself; Temple No 23 is the smallest (seating approximately 25 people) and contains a series of portraits of former Grand Secretaries of England and Wales. In addition to these 23 Temples, and the Grand Temple, there are several very simple and plain temples reserved for 'Lodges of Instruction' and 'Lodges of Rehearsal'. Unlike the Grand Temple (of which public tours are available daily) the other 23 temples are not normally open to the public, as they are in constant demand by private London Lodges and Chapters for their regular meetings.
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry is a library, archive and registered museum in central LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, covering Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
. It is located in the United Grand Lodge of England
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...
. The Library and Museum is a Charitable Trust and is registered with the Charity Commission (Registered Charity number 1058497).
In 2007 the collection of The Library and Museum of Freemasonry was recognised through the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is a non-departmental public body in England and a registered charity with a remit to promote improvement and innovation in the area of museums, libraries and archives...
’s Designation Scheme as being of outstanding quality and significance and of national and international importance.
The Library and Museum is open to the general public from Monday to Friday 10am–5pm and entry is free of charge. The Museum has a collection of objects with Masonic decoration, including clocks, furniture, glassware, jewellry, porcelain, pottery, regalia and silver. Displayed items include belongings of famous Freemasons such as King Edward VII and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Hourly tours of the building are given starting from the Library and Museum, including a tour of the Grand Temple. There are 5 tours a day at 11am, 12noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Saturday tours must be pre-booked, and there is only one extended tour at 10.30am. There is a booking fee of £1 per person for Saturday tours. To book a tour telephone 020 7395 9251.
The Library is open to the public for reference use and users are required to register. The Library contains a comprehensive collection of printed books and manuscripts on every facet of Freemasonry in England, as well as material on Freemasonry elsewhere in the world, and on subjects associated with Freemasonry or with mystical and esoteric traditions. The Library catalogue is available online.
In addition to its core Masonic collections, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry holds a wide selection of items relating to Friendly Societies
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
such as the Oddfellows
Oddfellows
The name Oddfellows refers to a number of friendly societies and fraternal organisations operating in the United Kingdom. It also refers to a number of Lodges with histories dating back to the 18th century. These various organisations were set up to protect and care for their members and...
, Foresters and many other societies both current and dead. A large collection of Friendly Societies books are also held by the Library.
The Library and Museum provides a genealogical enquiry service. However there is no complete alphabetical index of freemasons' available. They also hold regular study days and a large summer exhibition each year, as well as several smaller exhibitions during the course of the year.
Recent seasonal exhibitions have included one on the subject of Masonic Dining (July to September 2008), and another celebrating the Centenary of the Order of Women Freemasons
Order of Women Freemasons
The Order of Women Freemasons is a fraternal organisation based in the United Kingdom and is the larger of the two Masonic bodies for women only. Its headquarters is at 27 Pembridge Gardens in London.-History:...
(June to December 2008). Admission to seasonal exhibitions is free.
Other facilities
In addition to the Grand Temple, the other temples, and the Library and Museum, the building contains extensive administrative offices, storage space for the property of the many hundreds of lodges meeting in the building, a masonic shop (open to the public during normal trading hours), board rooms, workshops, a tailoring and embroidery suite, archives, a members' drawing room, and an entire floor of charities administration, where the four major national masonic charities house their headquarters and administration (these being the Freemasons' Grand Charity, the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, and the Masonic Samaritan Fund).Recent uses
Like Sandby's Grand Hall, the Grand Temple is also used for concerts and musical events - having excellent acoustics and clear sight-lines.The building is used both internally and externally as a stand-in for Thames House
Thames House
Thames House is an office development in Millbank, London, on the north bank of the River Thames adjacent to Lambeth Bridge, designed originally as commercial head offices...
(the home of MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
) in the TV series Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
and has also featured extensively in the long-running series of TV films Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
; the building makes frequent one-off appearances in episodes of other television series, such as its extensive use in Hustle
Hustle (TV series)
Hustle is a British television drama series made by Kudos Film and Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom. Created by Tony Jordan and first broadcast in 2004, the series follows a group of con artists who specialise in "long cons" – extended deceptions which require greater commitment, but...
, series 5, episode 2. Both its exterior and interior were used in an episode of New Tricks, and the interior has been used for the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
(2005) where Freemasons' Hall becomes the temple in which the "Jatravartid" people pray for "the coming of the Great White Handkerchief". It has also been used in many other feature films, including Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London is an English-American action comedy film and the sequel to the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks, and was released in the United States on March 12, 2004. Frankie Muniz was the only major returning star, with Hannah Spearritt now playing the love interest and...
(2004), The Line of Beauty
The Line of Beauty
The Line of Beauty is a 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.-Plot introduction:Set in Britain in the early to mid-1980s, the story surrounds the post-Oxford life of the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest....
(TV), The Wings of the Dove (1997) and Johnny English
Johnny English
Johnny English is a 2003 British action comedy film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. The film stars Rowan Atkinson as the incompetent titular English spy, with John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Tim Pigott-Smith and Ben Miller in supporting roles...
(2003). The building has also featured as a backdrop in music videos, including extensive use (internally and externally) in the music video for the Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
single Mandy
Mandy (song)
"Mandy", originally titled "Brandy", is a song jointly written and composed by Scott English and Richard Kerr."Brandy" had been a hit in 1971 for Scott English in the UK and in 1972 for Bunny Walters in New Zealand...
.
Recently it was featured as a filming location in the 2009
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
film Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
.
See also
- FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
- National Heritage Museum of FreemasonryNational Heritage Museum of FreemasonryThe National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts is a museum with an emphasis on American history and Freemasonry. It also contains the Gorden-Williams Library, a Masonic research library...
, Lexington, MassachusettsLexington, MassachusettsLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...