Origins
The origins of Freemasonry are uncertain and historians disagree about how the modern masonry came into being. There are two principal but differing views. One suggests that it emerged directly from the medieval guilds and lodges of the stone masons who built the great cathedrals and castles of the period. The other proposes that gentlemen intellectuals, influenced by the discourses of enquiry in the Enlightenment years of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, adopted the organisation and working practices, implements and accoutrements of the stone masons as an appropriate framework for the purposes of moral development.
Whatever the truth of the origins, however, the objectives remain the same – to foster a high moral and ethical approach to life and to encourage thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and justice in all things. It also aims to facilitate friendship and to encourage its members to serve the community and to practise universal charity.
History
The earliest record of the making of a Freemason is that of Elias Ashmole, the famous antiquarian and founder of the collection of artefacts now held in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. His diary shows that he was accepted into a Masonic Lodge on the afternoon of the 16th October, 1646, in Warrington. On 24th June 1717 four London lodges formed the first Grand Lodge and on 27th December 1813 The United Grand Lodge of England was constituted with 647 lodges.
Today
Today, English Freemasonry under the United Grand Lodge of England has over a quarter of a million members in England, Wales and throughout the world, meeting in over 7,000 lodges. Freemasons are encouraged to assist those in need whenever and wherever they can, so, while Freemasonry is not primarily a charitable organisation, charitable actions result from applying its principles. In England and Wales, there are 47 county organisations that provide support and co-ordination for the lodges meeting in their area. Berkshire Freemasonry is one of those local organisations with over 90 lodges and more than 3,000 members.
Freemasonry in Berkshire
Freemasonry has been an integral part of the county and the local community since the early 1700’s.
The earliest records of a masonic lodge working in Berkshire date from 1725 when nineteen Freemasons met in the Mitre tavern next to St Lawrence’s Church in the Market Place in Reading and the first county leader (Provincial Grand Master) was appointed in 1773. The two oldest lodges still meeting in the county today were formed in 1813 and 1833. By 1899 seventeen of our current lodges were in existence and by the middle of the 20th century another 35 lodges had been formed. During those early years Reading and Windsor became the principal towns where lodges met.
Today there are 99 Lodges in Berkshire, with Masons meeting in fourteen different locations throughout the county spread from Windsor in the East to Hungerford in the West and from Abingdon in the North to Reading and Wokingham in the South. More than 3000 members are drawn from all walks of life, professions and trades and from widely varied social and cultural backgrounds.
Lodges hold regular meetings between three and seven times a year. Most lodges organise a variety of social events in addition to their formal meetings at which family and friends are welcome. These events include Dinners and Dinner Dances, Weekends Away, Lunches, Bowls, Golf, Skittles, BBQs, Clay Pigeon Shoots, and Race Nights to name but a few.
Many of your questions will be answered on our frequently asked questions page and you can contact us for more information.
The headquarters of Berkshire Freemasonry is in Sindlesham between Reading and Wokingham. In addition to being the meeting place of 48 lodges it is the home of the main administration offices and staff, and the Library and Museum. Important county meetings are held at Sindlesham and it’s associated banqueting facilitySindlesham Court.
For more information take a look at our frequently asked questions page or contact us.
