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Another Warrington church which had local Masonic
support was St. Margaret’s and All Hallows Church in
the outlying village of Orford. A cornerstone was laid
with a full Masonic ceremony on the 18th of October,
1907, the stone dedicated to local Freemason William
e Sharp and laid by the Provincial Grand Master of
e Lancashire, the Earl of Lathom. The stone displays the
f dedication written in-between the Masonic symbols of
the square and the Seal of Solomon. The architect of the
church, Arthur Warburton, later became the architect
r of the Warrington Masonic Hall, its foundation stone
s being laid by the Provincial Grand Master in 1932.
n In 1904 the Earl of Lathom was commemorated
f by the building of a Chapter House in the newly
e constructed Anglican Liverpool Cathedral, the
e funding being supplied by subscribers such as the
t Warrington based Lodge of Lights. This kind of
6
h charitable and philanthropic support by these local Detail showing the inscription on the foundation stone of St.
f Freemasons reveals how wealthy industrialists and Margaret’s and All Hallows Church, Orford, Warrington. It
g local gentry contributed to their locality, improving displays the dedication written in the lettering style of the Arts
m their communities. and Crafts Movement, and set in between the lettering are the
r stylized Masonic symbols of the Square and Compass and the
Seal of Solomon. The architect of the church, Arthur Warburton,
With education being an important theme in later became the architect of the Warrington Masonic Hall, its
freemasonry, Masonic ceremonies during the building foundation stone being laid by the Provincial Grand Master in
h of places of education were also commonplace, such 1932.
f as the laying of the foundation stone of Fulshaw
e Memorial School in Wimslow, Cheshire, in 1890.
y The foundation stone of the Technical School in 1857. The Masonic Hall was opened the following
s nearby Stockport in 1888 was laid with a Masonic year after some alterations, but by 1872 the property
e ceremony by the Provincial Grand Lodge, the lodge was demolished, and the cornerstone of a new specially
e having met at the local Mechanics Institute on the day. built Masonic Hall was laid on the 2nd of November
e The foundation stone of St. Mary Magdalene School with a full Masonic ceremony, with local Masonic
s in Ashton-in-Mersey was also laid with a Masonic dignitary Lord Skelmersdale doing the honors. The
ceremony in 1895. These centers of education were Hall was ready two years later but had to be extended
again by the 1920s, an indication of the growth of
s important to local lodges, the Freemasons taking an Freemasonry in the area. A strip of land next to the
s active interest in supporting the centers, not just with building was purchased and by 1932, the extension
funding but in the building of the actual building.
Because of the ever-growing number of lodges within was completed. Some Masonic Halls had to move
location as Freemasonry expanded in the area, such as
towns and cities throughout the country during the in Manchester, were the beautifully decorative
later nineteenth century, Masonic Halls, like the one in Freemasons Hall was opened in Cooper Street in
Runcorn in Cheshire, became ever popular. Members 1864, its foundation stone being laid by none other
of the lodges contributed funds for the specially than Stephen Blair, the Provincial Grand Master of
constructed buildings, the foundation stones being laid East Lancashire. The Hall later moved to a larger art
with full Masonic pomp and ceremony. Freemasonry deco building at Bridge Street in 1929.8 Freemasons
flourished frantically, and unlike the early part of the Hall in Great Queens Street, London was also being
nineteenth century, the Craft no longer had to hide in rebuilt in a grand art deco style at this time, being
the shadows of the public houses of industrial towns opened in 1933. Charity still played a vital role within
or the cold corners of country taverns; Masonry could Freemasonry, an example being the founding of the
reside in magnifi cent Masonic Halls, many displaying Royal Masonic Hospital, which was opened by George
symbolism prominently along with the architectural v the same year as Freemasons Hall. The building was
splendor of the society’s ethos. 7
also meant to hold Masonic receptions, and Masonic
One such Masonic Hall was in Liverpool, where a symbols can be found around the Hospital, including
committee was formed for the specific duty to purchase Zodiac signs on the etched glass windows.
d a property, a house in Hope Street being bought in

Volume 95 Number 1 Montana Freemason Page 29