Lodge History

Ritual / Officers

Lodge Social Activities

Lodge History

The Consecration of the Lodge took place at Freemasons' Hall London, on 24th July 1945, just a few weeks after the cessation of the war in Europe, there by maintaining the continuity of the members' association formed during the war. The Lunch, which preceded the Consecration, was held at the Connaught Rooms. Each of the 19 Founders paid an inclusive consecration and dining fee of £5. 5s. Od. - 5 guineas - from which there was a surplus of £46. 6s 0d (£46. 30) the cost of each lunch being £1: 5s O d (£1:25) At 2:45 pm the Provincial Grand Master, together with members of the Executive and the Provincial Officers, consecrated the Lodge and subsequently appointed and invested W. Bro Stanley Johnson, P.P.G Reg. as the first Master, who then appointed and invested his Officers:

I.P.M. W.Bro. Arthur George Starnes - W. Bro. Edward Phillimore Bungay - J. W. Bro. Arthur Claude Leslie Melville Millington Jefferies - Treasurer: W. Bro. Norton Alfred Thorncroft - Secretary. W. Bro. Walter Brenchley Barnes
D. C. W. Bro Hector William Allen, P. P. A. G. D. C. (Essex) S. D. W. Bro. Sidney Harold Loweth - J. D. Bro. Robert Edward McOnegal - A. D. C. W. Bro. Alexander McKenzie Smith Prov. G. Steward. - Asst. Sec. Bro. Ernest Harold Nickels
I. G. Bro. Frederick William Collins Grout - Stewards Bro. Herbert Stratford Collins M.D  Bro. Roland Charles Irving Gregory - Bro William Fry Woodruff - Bro. Eric William Golman Weale - Tyler. W. Bro. Isaac Walker Hunter

P.P.G. Purst. The Provincial Grand Master, together with the consecrating Officers, were pleased to accept honorary membership of the Lodge; also, the reigning Master of the Douglas Lodge, and there after his successors, together with the Treasurer and Secretary.
BEARSTED LODGE No. 6069 A Lodge history lifts only a part of its past into view leaving much that we should like to know in oblivion. However, certain events in a 60 + year-existence are of such substance as to warrant their inclusion and it is the ordering of these events into a chronological sequence that provides the material for this history of Bearsted Lodge, never forgetting that ordinary, non-spectacular events are the lifeblood of a Lodge.

The concept of Bearsted Lodge and it’s ultimate inception resulted from a desire among members of Lodges in and around Maidstone, who resided in Bearsted, to form a local Lodge with strict residential qualifications within the Parishes of Bearsted, Thurnham and Boxley and who had also shared the singular responsibility of defending the villages against the enemy during the 1939 - 1945 World War. All had served as either Air Raid Wardens or as members of voluntary services meeting at their operational headquarters, the Bearsted Working Men's Club. Their wish became a reality when the petition supported by the Douglas Lodge No. 1725, to form the Bearsted Lodge was approved by The Rt. W.Bro. The Right Hon. The Lord Cornwallis of Linton, Provincial Grand Master, who had a close relationship with the village.

The choice of name was the obvious and natural one for the Founders, having such strong associations with the area. It is of interest to note that Bearsted, known to the Saxons as Beargham - stede (the settlement on the open hillside) has been inhabited since 6000 BC, first by Mesolithic hunters and then by Neolithic farmers. The independent King of Kent held a Great Council on the Green in 696 AD, and in the 5th century, six operative masons received pardons for taking part in Cade's rebellion - a very high proportion of members of the Douglas Lodge, namely, W. Bro. Frank Miskin, P.P.G. Reg, and W. Bro Sydney E. Day, PPJGW, were similarly honoured. The first regular meeting of the Lodge was held on 3rd October 1945 at the Ancient College Gateway, which remained its home for the next 30 years, until structural weakness in the 14th century building (built originally for the College of Secular Canons in 1395) meant that another home had to be found.

The period from 1945 - 1975 was one of growth and consolidation. Its first candidate was M r. Robert Skinner. Although Bro. Skinner's Initiation Festive Board was held at the Mitre Hotel, Maidstone, all subsequent: festive boards were held at the Royal Star Hotel the cost of which in 1945 was 7s. 6d. The dinner consisted of a sherry on arrival and a three-course meal, followed by cheese and biscuits, coffee and port - clearly they had an exemption from rationing controls! On 3rd March 1948, at the request of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and with the agreement of the Provincial Grand Master, Bro. Frank Seed Isherwood a Fellow craft of the Lodge Greenock St. John' s No. 175 Scottish Constitution, was raised to the degree of Master Mason, thus providing an interesting example of the operative mason's art in a temple sited in a 14th Century building. At this time, too, the Lodge By-Laws were approved, which did not contain the residential qualification for membership. However, the intention of the Founders to restrict candidates to those living with in the parishes of Bearsted, Thurnham and Boxley persisted for a time, but was eventually discontinued.

The first Initiate of the Lodge to become Worshipful Master was W. Bro. H. G. Lawrence having been initiated on 3rd November 1948, and becoming Worshipful Master in October 1958 the first Master of the Lodge, W. Bro. Stanley Johnson, P.P.G. Reg; was appointed to the United Grand Lodge of England in 1949, with the rank of Past Assistant Director of Ceremonies through the generosity of W. Bro. Stanley Johnson, P.A.G.D.C.P.P.G. Reg the Lodge received its banner, which shows a series of masonic symbols. "By Symbols is man guided and commanded, made happy, made wretched." Thomas Carlyle - Sartor Resartus The banner was dedicated on 2nd March 1949 by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, W.Bro. Arthur Atkinson assisted by the Provincial Grand Chaplain, W.Bro. The Reverend Wilfred Turton. The decade of the 50's saw the appointment of a member of the Lodge, W.Bro. McKenzie - Smith, as Provincial Grand Secretary, and in October 1953 the sad loss of the Father of the Lodge, W. Bro. Stanley Johnson, P.A.G.D.C.R.P.G. Reg. Continuing on its path of consolidation, the Lodge received on 6th February 1963 a cabinet holding a complete set of working tools, which had been made by Bro. E. W. Callaghan and these tools are still in use by the Lodge.

At the Lodge meeting held in November 1964, it was proposed and adopted that an extra Regular Meeting be arranged for April to ensure that candidates completed their three degrees within a masonic season. As previously mentioned, the Lodge was forced to leave its home at the Ancient College Gateway in November 1975 and became the guests of the Mailing Abbey Lodge No. 1063, holding their regular meeting in West Mailing and their Lodge of Instruction at The Old-House-at-Home in Pudding Lane, returning after 4 years to the Ancient College Gateway once the structural repairs had been completed.

In October 1985 it was proposed and subsequently confirmed at an emergency meeting held in November 1986 that the Lodge should vacate the Ancient College Gateway and move to the Maidstone Masonic Centre at Tovil in October 1987 on the occasion of its 43rd Installation Meeting, in 1986 W. Bro H. G. Lawrence, the first Initiate to become Worshipful Master, was appointed to the United Grand Lodge of England with the rank of Past Assistant Director of Ceremonies. W. Bro. H. G. Lawrence P.A.G.D.C., P.Pr.J.G.W. went on to occupy the office of Treasurer for many years. A Past Masters Roll of Honour Board was unveiled in December 1990 at The Maidstone Masonic Centre, and this evidences the strong family orientation that has always been a factor in the Lodge's life. There are examples of father and son serving as Worshipful Master, instances of a father being Worshipful Master and having sons within the Lodge, of brothers being Worshipful Master and of father-in-law being the Worshipful Master with sons-in-law in the Lodge.

The Committee wish to acknowledge with gratitude the efforts of W. Bro. Peter Saunders P.G.St.B., P.P.J.G.W. for his energies in researching and editing this brief history of the Bearsted Lodge.

W.Bro Peter Saunders, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours (June 2007) for his services to further education. The award was made in well deserved recognition of his 32 years as Governor at Mid Kent College, supported by extensive other voluntary work.