The Library and Museum of Freemasonry - what's in it for Londoners?
Lodge Room 1 then.
existence of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of which we are all members. Partly as a result of this early link to the centre, London accounts for about one fifth of English Freemasonry and thus is de facto likely to play a similarly pre-eminent role in the collections of the Library and Museum. arena paid a quick visit to the
Lodge Room 1 now.
Library and Museum’s Director, Diane Clements to discuss London's relationship with the Museum and Library and was very warmly welcomed. “It’s true that London plays a large part in the history of English Masonry and one could argue that a great deal of the Craft’s history is also London’s own history” she said, “but surprisingly we still consider that we have more work to do in getting London Freemasons to visit and use the facilities. By comparison with the average number of provincial lodge visits, London still lags behind.” There is always London-focused
H
ow many times have you arrived at Great Queen Street
for a meeting and thought about spending time in the Library and Museum but other things got in the way? Do you know that we have an internationally renowned collection on our doorstep? Arena has been investigating what the Library and Museum is for and how it is relevant to us as Londoners.
24 The Grand Lodge first met in
London in 1717. London was thereafter always the administrative HQ and for many years London Lodges and Chapters were directly administered by Grand Lodge from Great Queen Street, so the links between London masons and Grand Lodge were perhaps more obvious then, than today when those links are somewhat blurred by the
material on display – for example a display of jewels featuring London landmarks - but Arena also heard from Emma Roberts, Collections Manager, about a new display drawing on work cataloguing London-related items which is being funded by the London Grand Rank Association Heritage and Education Trust. “We are currently putting together an exhibition on classical architectural symbolism shown on PM and PZ jewels of many London lodges and chapters, on certificates and on other objects such as ceramics. The different materials used and the different approaches to using the symbolism demonstrate how creative lodges and chapters have been in commissioning jewels.”
ISSUE 13
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