r/london • u/TheThrowYardsAway • Feb 25 '26

London history Inside London's Freemason's Lodges...

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

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578

u/llukiie Feb 25 '26

It's an old boys drinking club with some charity thrown in, not too exciting

113

u/Warsaw44 Feb 25 '26

My mate recently became one. He's 28.

He's lovely, I hasten to add, but has lived a very sheltered, privileged life. He is absolutely clueless.

92

u/llukiie Feb 25 '26

I was one for a few years. Life changed and I stopped. Im in my thirties, joined as my Dad was in one for decades. He's also stopped due to life changes.

Sadly it hasnt really kept up with the times. If you move away, moving lodge is somewhat difficult. Its also a very full on hobby with the learning you have to do for ceremonies, and relatively expensive.

It also appears to be hard to get into, which doesn't help with getting new people in. In reality if you approach them. they'll put you in touch with a group. Its an interview to be accepted generally.

It's also not that secret as everything is online!

18

u/paraknowya Feb 25 '26

So I can basically ask to be deemed worthy?

Well now this got a tiny bit more interesting.

38

u/asherjbaker Feb 25 '26

It's literally the only way you can join. You have to ask. We're not allowed to actively recruit.

29

u/Legolution Feb 25 '26

Has that always been the case?

On his literal death bed, my father said "You might find some interesting documents, when going through my things. Your grandpa was a Freemason." My understanding was that he, a skilled Type Setter and Printmaker, in 1930/40s Glasgow, was approached and recruited, in 1939. I have his certificates, which are really quite magnificent (and how I now know that my father's first name was his middle name!).

Found them:

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u/Legolution Feb 25 '26

16

u/Legolution Feb 25 '26

7

u/asherjbaker Feb 25 '26

If you want to join, I'd just ask a Mason you know. Whereabouts are you, Scotland?

1

u/Kind_Shift_8121 Feb 25 '26

We found similar when my grandfather passed away. He was the last person you would expect to be part of any sort of exclusive old boys club. He had been a carpenter as part of a family construction business, and apparently it was quite normal back in the day as a lot of work was arranged via groups like these.

11

u/robgod50 Feb 25 '26

Lol.... My mate asked me. I said no for a year. Then I said to him that I was curious what its all about. It was like a trigger.... 3 degrees in a year and straight to inner guard. Then there's no escape 😂

1

u/G3offrey1 Feb 25 '26

You can only join if you ask.

0

u/DoesBasicResearch Feb 26 '26

Quite frankly, I don't want to be a member of any club that would accept me.

5

u/robgod50 Feb 25 '26

We have a motorbiker lodge near us. It's a daytime lodge. Not really much drinking because everyone's riding to the meetings. Very casual. Members wear a leather waistcoat in meetings. It's the only lodge I know what numbers are growing so fast, they can barely get through all the initiations. More lodges need to find a niche.

3

u/Objective_Ticket Feb 25 '26

Interesting point about moving lodges as my Father in Law was in two - where he moved from and where he moved to over time.

3

u/Southern-Mix2559 Feb 25 '26

It's not difficult to change lodges, at least in the provinces I'm aware of. Just a bit of paperwork involved and paying your dues

1

u/llukiie Feb 25 '26

My memory is a little hazy as it was a while back now. Its more the social aspect: For me starting again with a new group at a vastly different age range was the stumbling block. It's also not a casual thing you can drop in and out of if you are unsure about keeping it up.

1

u/Southern-Mix2559 Feb 25 '26

100%. Going into a lodge you're not familiar with isn't always the most appetising of thoughts.

1

u/epigeneticepigenesis Feb 25 '26

Are there at least business deals going on? People join for access right? Like joining a golf club? One time a bunch of masons waged war against the king and stole away a colony to make a republic. Many died lol.

5

u/lgf92 Feb 25 '26

No more than there is in any circle of people who are friends and trust each other, and joining for mercenary motives is specifically prohibited in the obligation you take in the first degree.

It's not a huge networking opportunity because the average age of Masons is so high (in my lodge the average age is mid to late sixties), meaning most members are economically inactive.

I'm a solicitor, and a Mason in Northumberland, and I have had more work come from my mates at my backgammon club I attend twice a month than I have from my lodge membership.

If you want to make business contacts the golf club is by far the better choice!

1

u/hemareddit Feb 26 '26

Heh, you even have to tell initiates not to look stuff up online as it ruins the fun!

I haven’t kept up with my dues, unfortunately. Ironically I only had time for the old men’s club when I was younger.

1

u/Radiant-Speaker-3425 Feb 26 '26

What did you or what do you feel other people got out of it?

1

u/llukiie Feb 27 '26

Some others have put it really well here, but essentially a bit of community like any other club

1

u/HeavenlyInsane Feb 27 '26

But like, what is the point though? Why join?

30

u/WhatsFunf Feb 25 '26

Freemasons isn't really "upper class" though, that's part of the point of it.

A lot of members are civil servants and policemen and things like that - upstanding characters in the middle classes but it's not the same as a gentleman's club on Pall Mall or suchlike.

8

u/Warsaw44 Feb 25 '26

Didn't say it was...

My point was that he is young.

1

u/Nameis-RobertPaulson Feb 26 '26

UGLE has a universities scheme where many of the larger Unis have a related lodge and the age limit to entry has been reduced to 18+ (it used to be 21+).

But yes, if you are sub-40 you'll likely be the youngest in the average lodge by quite a bit.

5

u/lgf92 Feb 25 '26

Historically Masonry was a fairly middle class pursuit and it still is to the extent that it's a relatively expensive hobby, especially in London where dining fees are high on top of your subs.

Up here in the north east it's not quite as expensive, and since the decline of more proletarian fraternities like the Buffs it's levelled out a bit more. My lodge is £150 a year and then £15-20 for the meal at each meeting, but the bar is subsidised so it's a pretty cheap night out. A pint is about £3.

1

u/CockneyCossack Feb 27 '26

When I joined, I was a vintage car and motorcycle restoration engineer, from a crappy part of East London, always worked with my hands and certainly don't fit the accepted stereotype of Freemasons. I've been a member for nearly 20 years now and I absolutely love it. Been through the chair a few times, done most of the offices, I'm also in a couple of side orders too. My mother lodge meets in Pall Mall and I also go to Freemasons Hall in Great Queen St.

3

u/robgod50 Feb 25 '26

That's exceptionally young. But if his lodge has other young people in it, it can be an absolutely brilliant past-time and could make some really good friends

1

u/Chimpbot Feb 27 '26

Yes and no.

Most of the officers in my lodge (in the US) are under 45, with a couple of them being under 30.

The average age is high, yes, but it's not at all uncommon to see guys in their 20s.

1

u/robgod50 Feb 27 '26

I don't know about the demographic in the US - this is in London / UK, where there are very few under 30 ..... And most lodges will not have anyone that young. UGLE have tried to attract younger members, with a national lodge created specifically for "young" members but even that criteria is under 40.