Our Installation ritual contains the following reference to the Hall Stone Jewel during which it is presented to the new Worshipful Master.

The Lodge having contributed its share to the 1914 – 18 War Peace Memorial in Great Queen Street, London, was presented with this jewel and designated a Hall Stone Lodge. The Hall Stone Jewel was conferred at a meeting of Grand Lodge on December 17^th 1921 and gave the Masters of Hall Stone Lodges the right to wear this jewel as a permanent reminder of the contribution to the Peace Memorial. The Hall Stone Jewel should therefore be worn by you on all Masonic occasions.

At a special meeting of UGLE in June 1919, the M.W. The Grand Master, H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, expressed a wish that a memorial be established to commemorate those Brethren who had made the supreme sacrifice in the 1914-18 war. It was agreed to embark on the building of a new headquarters for the English Craft as this memorial. 

For this purpose a special committee was set up in 1920 and an appeal made to every member of the Constitution for contributions to the fund which, from the target set, came to be known as the Masonic Million Memorial Fund. Contributions to this Fund were to be entirely voluntary and were to be recognised by special commemorative jewels. 

These were of three types for the three categories of subscribers, of the same basic design but of different sizes and precious metals. 

Individual Jewel 

A medal (35 mm) called the Masonic Million Memorial Fund Commemorative Jewel on a dark blue ribbon, to be worn as a personal breast jewel by any member of a lodge under the English Constitution subscribing to the Fund: 

• 10 guineas or more, a silver medal (approx. £225 today, source MeasuringWorth.com);
• 100 guineas or more, a gold medal;
• 53,224 individual jewels were issued.

Lodge Jewel 

A medal (42 mm) in gold on a light blue collarette to be worn by successive Masters of lodges contributing an average of 10 guineas per member. Such lodges to be known as Hall Stone Lodges (thus giving the jewel its name). Thus, there were:  

• 1,321 lodges at home and abroad, of which 794 in London, 442 in the Province – 53 were in Yorkshire, West Riding, and 88 abroad
• The names and numbers are inscribed on commemorative marble panels in the main ceremonial entrance vestibule of Freemasons’ Hall.

District Provincial Jewel 

A medal (48 mm) in gold and coloured enamels, on a dark blue collarette, to be worn by successive Provincial and District Grand Masters of Provinces or Districts contributing an average of 500 guineas per lodge. 

• Two Districts, Japan (now defunct) and Burma (in abeyance);
• One Province, Buckinghamshire.

All qualified as Hall Stone Districts/Province. Certain lodge rooms in Freemasons’ Hall were therefore named after them in recognition of their achievement, this being commemorated on a bronze plaque. Lodge Rooms 11, 12 and 17 were thus denominated respectively the Japan, the Burma and the Buckinghamshire Rooms. They are the only lodge rooms in Freemasons’ Hall distinguished in this way by a name. 

The design of the jewel, the outcome of an open competition with a prize of £75, was won by Cyril Saunders Spackman, R.B.A., R.M.S. 

At the time it was described as follows: 

The jewel is in the form of a cross, symbolising Sacrifice, with a perfect square at the four ends, on the left and right, squares being the dates 1914-1918, the years in which the supreme sacrifice was made. Between these is a winged figure of Peace presenting the representation of a Temple with special Masonic allusion in the Pillars, Porch and Steps. The medal is suspended by the Square and Compasses, attached to a ribband, the whole thus symbolising the Craft’s gift of a Temple in memory of those brethren who gave all for King and Country, Peace and Victory, Liberty and Brotherhood.

Masonic Peace Memorial 

The Hall Stone Jewel is the main feature in the central panel of the stained glass window behind the shrine on the first floor vestibule at Freemasons’ Hall. 

The observant amongst readers may have noticed there is one interesting change to the jewel in the panel! 

• When the jewel was designed in 1921 this was prior to the completion of the new building;
• The window was designed several years later, and the façade of the building was known;
• The winged figure of Peace instead of holding a model of a classic temple, as in the jewel itself, is actually holding a model of the tower façade of Freemasons’ Hall.

The 1920s were a period of economic uncertainty, leading to a General Strike in 1926, and the collapse of the world economy in 1929. 

After initial enthusiasm the fund raising began to wane. It was decided in 1925 to have a major festival to boost the fund. On Saturday 8^th August 1925 over 7,000 brethren joined the Grand Master for lunch at Olympia. The event still stands in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever sit down meal held in the British Isles. 

For the 5 course lunch; 5 miles of tables were laid; using 50,000 plates, 30,000 glasses, 30,00 knives; 37,000 forks and 15, 000 spoons. There were 1,250 waitresses who served the lunch with salmon, lamb cutlets, chicken garnished with tongue and York Ham, followed by strawberries and ice cream: washed down with sherry, sauternes, champagne, brandy and liqueurs 

At the end of the lunch the Grand Master was able to announce that £825,000 had been paid into or promised to the Masonic Million Memorial Fund. 

Building work on the Masonic Peace Memorial, as it was at first called, later to become known as Freemasons’ Hall at the outbreak of WW2, Building commenced in 1927 and was completed in 1933 when the Hall was dedicated. At the June 1938 Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge the Special Committee presented its final report recording that the building had been handed over to the Board of General Purposes free from debt and that well over one million pounds had been subscribed to the Fund. The Fund itself was closed on the 31st December 1938. 

References 

Information Leaflet No. 3: The Hall Stone Jewel (1980), Library & Museum of United Grand Lodge of England; 

The jewel in his crown (2004), Alan Chard MQ Issue 9 April 2004; 

A Fitting Memorial (2008), V.W. Bro. John Hamill, P.G.Swd.B., talk to mark 75^th Anniversary of opening Freemasons’ Hall.

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