Gainsborough Lodge prepares for 2,000th meeting – and you could be there
April 22, 2022
Lincolnshire’s Covid remembrance and thanksgiving service
April 24, 2022
Horncastle Freemasons are to throw open the doors of their Banks Street home to let members of the public tour the building in which Freemasons have met for more than 150 years.
The free-to-enter open day takes place between 10am and 4pm on Saturday May 7th, when anyone can go in and have a look around.
Horncastle’s Masonic Hall was built in 1872 by Hensman and Walter, members of the Olive Union Lodge, which still meets there today. Before the creation of the current premises, members had met at The Bull Hotel, with the first meeting being held there on 18th December 1830.
Apart from a brief break when the Lodge closed in the mid-1800s, it has been active continuously since 1870, even during Covid. Although meetings couldn’t take place, Lodge members, like Freemasons everywhere, were active in supporting vulnerable people to help them through the pandemic.
Said Mel Murfin, the current Secretary of the Olive Union Lodge: “We had planned to invite the public to tour our iconic building in 2020 for the building’s 150th anniversary, but Covid intervened. Now restrictions have been lifted we’ve revived our plans. We’re sure it will have been worth the wait, and we look forward to seeing everyone who’d like to meet us and discover more about Freemasonry in general and its history in Horncastle in particular.
“Everyone’s welcome, and will be warmly welcomed by Lodge members and given a tour of the building and the opportunity to see what Freemasonry is about.”
