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The history of masonry in the Bradford area can be traced back to the
operative masons engaged in the building of the Parish Church which is now
Bradford Cathedral. The mason's marks left by these masons in the mid 1400s
can still be found on the pillars in the nave and in the tower.
Christianity came to Bradford from Dewsbury where Paulinus preached in A.D.
627 whilst on a mission to Northumbria. Two Saxon Preaching Crosses, the
remains of which are exhibited in the Cathedral, were consequently erected
on the same site which now houses the Cathedral. Following the Norman
Conquest in 1066 the lord of the manor was Ilbert de Lacey and it is likely
that he would have a chapel on his manor which could well have been a wooden
church.
By 1327 there was a stone church on the site and the foundations of earlier
buildings were found when the Chapel was rebuilt in 1963. The Lodge of Hope
302 (Bradford) has in its possession an old operative mason's manuscript
which has been dated circa 1680 although it is not certain if this document
directly relates to operative masonry in Bradford.
In 1713 the Grand Lodge of England at York held at meeting in Bradford at
which 18 members of prominent West Riding families were there made Masons.
1794 saw the foundation of the Lodge of Hope at the Talbot Hotel in Kirkgate.
The Lodge was not consecrated therefore we can only assume that Jeremiah
Ambler and his Lodge founders were already Masons. Could this have been a
second beginning for the Mother Lodge of the Lodge of Charity? In 1920 the
Brethren of the Lodge of Hope were meeting about fifty strong and some of
the younger and more forceful members were moved towards the forming of a
new Lodge. In the February of 1920 a formal proposal that the Lodge of
Charity should be formed under the aegis of the Mother Lodge and this was
approved at the subsequent meeting of the Lodge. There was little delay in
the implementation of the proposal and 12 brethren of the Lodge of Hope
brought the Lodge of Charity into existence at a consecration ceremony on
14th October 1920 at the rooms in North Parade, where, consequently, the
Lodge of Charity shared the tenancy with the Lodge of Hope and Pentalpha
Lodge.
The Consecration was carried out by the Provincial Grand Master RW Bro Sir
William Raynor, and the first Worshipful Master W Bro John Atkinson-Jowett
was installed by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master W Bro Richard Gill.
Twelve brethren including Bro Ernest Cummins, the founding secretary, (the
grandfather of our current Master) were formed together into the Lodge of
Charity.
As the years passed the number of members grew. Bradford was then the centre
of the World's wool trade, rich and prosperous manufacturers and merchants
swelled not only the number of Freemasons but also the number of Lodges. The
Bradford area soon boasted 27 Masonic Lodges and to house these numbers
plans were put in hand to build a Masonic Hall, Connaught Rooms on Manningham Lane. The three Lodges then meeting at North
Parade assessed their choices and opted for the purchase of a building at
Spring Bank Place. This was modified to meet our requirements and on the 24
March 1926 the three Lodges moved to our current home at Spring Bank Place.
By the 1950s the number of members has increased to over 70 and the Lodge of
Charity was going from strength to strength and the four Lodges now resident
in the building (Lodge of Equity had been formed in 1945) had in excess of
300 members. The coming of the late 1970s brought the start of the steady
decline of the wool manufacturing industry in Bradford. Lodge members no
longer, on the whole, lived in the centre of the City but had moved out to
more rural climes. By the mid 80s membership of the Lodges in the Bradford
area was dropping, the average in the 90s now being round about thirty.
Hence we arrive at 1995 the year of our 75th Anniversary with
Freemasonry in Bradford in something of a decline from the halcyon years
following our Consecration. No doubt that with thoughtful leadership and
enthusiastic support the brethren of the Lodge of Charity will steer their
barque through this difficult period and emerge revitalised to pursue
another 75 years of Freemasonry in Bradford. |
