Preston Heritage Event Tour Saturday 10th September 2016 –The Masonic Hall

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This was not my first chance to talk with Freemasons. A leading member came to address an atheist’s society I was secretary of in the 1990’s.This was however a chance to have a very comprehensive tour of a Masonic Hall. Freemasons like to think they are not a secret society as their centres are easily identified and most members are not anonymous, but much of their ritual and activity is very secretive. Their use of a chess-board square design floor-altar and architectural compasses make their facilities easy to identify. I am actually excluded from Masonic membership for my atheism (you have to swear an oath to a supreme being, be it God or Allah) and you must respect your national leader, in the case of UK lodges our ruling monarch, the Queen. My republican tendencies would therefore also rule me out. Women are also excluded though there are women only lodges not fully recognized by mainstream male Freemasons. The Preston centre represents multiple lodges, and Masons have been active in the city since 1775. Masons laid the foundation stone of the original town hall in 1867 and the first stone for the Harris Centre Museum in 1882. For many years, the Masons met at function rooms in various pubs, including some I have been to, such as The Bull & Royal. Now most of the lodges use Ashlar House, the main Masonic Hall as their main centre of activity. The hall is a former church, externally resembling a working man’s club. It is divided into meeting rooms, social function rooms and lodge rooms that resemble arcane temples. The World Wars led to lodges flourishing in membership, as many soldiers enjoyed male only camaraderie and being away from their wives and girlfriends enough to want to maintain it in peace time. American Masons stationed in the UK were very grateful to the Preston lodges for hospitality and assistance in keeping their own rituals going. The lodges are passionate about charity work, especially for hospitals. Many of Preston’s mayors are pictured on the walls proudly wearing masonic aprons though I never noticed if the current mayor is on the wall of photos too or not. Some function rooms are hired out to anyone, including non-masons who wants the rooms for social events and there are rooms set out specially for hosting wedding ceremonies. There was a strong sense of an economy drive, with lights being switched off when not needed, and many items of furniture bought at low prices. The Masons are becoming highly cost conscious. Ritual rooms were often quite similar. The floor is set out as a chess/checkerboard grid of squares, marked by the North, South East and West compass points. A ceremonial sword rests at one end along with wooden blocks and an alter stands at the other. Seating is arranged around it with grand thrones for senior degree members of a very hierarchical organization. There were some very lovely banners and shields for the lodges represented and one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Various aprons were on display and our guide was both friendly and non-evasive. He had become hooked on masonry after attending a few purely social functions with Masonic friends. He never suspected he would rise to supervisory status at the central Masonic Hall though it is clearly a status he loves. I was surprised that only three people took this tour, though it was to rerun every hour up to 4pm over two days. There was myself, a lady and a young lad taken round. The young man expressed an interest in joining the society and stayed behind to discuss his aims after myself and the lady left. Hope it works out OK for him. Though I can respect Masons, I find their male only atmosphere, anti-atheism and ties to the establishment a deterrent. It was however refreshing to get such access to their main centre of activity in my home city. Arthur Chappell