About Us

The Need

West Ham Abbey Lodge was consecrated during the latter end of Victorian Britain. At the time, healthcare was not free and the United Kingdom was ravaged by the effects of Tuberculosis (TB). The Lancet reports that 25% of all deaths in Britain were attributed to TB, and London accounted for 39% of all cases of TB. The disease was known as, ‘The White Plague’ due to the loss of skin colour among sufferers of the disease. The effects of this awful disease could not fail to be felt by every member of society. Living standards were overcrowded, sanitation was poor and healthcare was expensive. The need for philanthropy and charitable support was the only chance of any form of support.

Around the east London boroughs at the time there was a mini-surge in the consecration of new masonic lodges. Indeed most of the Calver lodges were consecrated in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. There was a large cross-pollination of membership as members of one lodge became founders of others. Most lodges shared the same common goals in their charitable focus and would have been heavily involved in the borough’s initiative to support the fight against TB.  

West Ham Abbey Lodge was founded by Artisans, Merchants and Burghers within the borough. Meetings originally took place on a Thursday afternoon when trading closed early. At its consecration and subsequent banquet, the founding members of West Ham Abbey Lodge raised and donated £200 (approx. £20K in today’s money) to the borough’s initiative to support patients with TB. It continued to support the West Ham Sanitoriums in Langdon Hills (a children’s hospital) and Dagenham (adults hospital) as well as the Borough’s dispensary in Balaam Street as well as many other worthy causes.

West Ham Abbey is a Hall Stone Lodge having contributed to the Million Memorial Fund, to create Freemason’s Hall, the permanent memorial to all those Freemasons that gave their lives during the Great War.

Legacy

We are very proud of our heritage and we strive to pursue the original objective of its founding members – to assist local communities by supporting various charitable causes in a sociable and enlightening environment.

Most of this is achieved by a combination of fund-raising. Regular charitable collections at our lodge meeting as well as events like ‘black tie dinners’, social nights etc. Occasionally someone will leap out of a plane or run a considerable distance, but on the whole, we are an unremarkable bunch with a remarkable interest in common… philanthropy and Freemasonry.

Until recently West Ham Abbey was a London Lodge, meeting under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Grand Lodge. However most of its members now hail from the East London and Essex areas so in 2018 we made the move to become an ‘Essex’ Lodge. We currently meet at Upminster Masonic Hall, Upminster on the fourth Friday in October, the second Wednesday in December and the third Wednesday in February (Installation).

Masons’ meetings.

We meet four times a year, between September and May, where we have our official meetings. This is where our decisions on supporting and donating to local causes is made. We also use these meetings to welcome new members by conducting them through a series of ceremonies similar to ‘mini plays’ called ‘Degrees’. The ceremonies are crammed with symbolism and use allegory designed to demonstrate where the candidate has come from spiritually or philosophically. Moving onwards they lead the candidate on a path to encourage them to dedicate themselves to the pursuit of an ever improving moral disposition. Members are encouraged to love and respect all humanity as if everyone was their ‘brother’, to endeavour to relieve the suffering of the sick and needy, and to be an honest and moral example to the community. These three aspects are called the Three Grand Principles on which the organisation is founded. They are referred to as Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.

So Why All the Mystery?

Have you ever had someone tell you the results of the game that you wanted to watch? How frustrating is it to know the ending before you’ve begun! In the USA and other countries, Freemasonry is widely considered to be the cornerstone of their society.

But events here in Britain led to a different approach to our public image from our cousins in the US. Prior to the 1930s, masonic lodges proudly took part in local community events in their full regalia. Prominent masons were invited to open housing estates and lodges were a part of many a march or community celebration. They were pillars of the community, as has been amply illustrated at the beginning of this page. It is well documented that Hitler’s ideas of an Aryanne race and the ‘final solution’ had no place for Jews, Ethnic Minorities, Homosexuals etc. But it is not often mentioned that Freemasons were also rounded up, persecuted and sent to the concentration camps along with the aforementioned groups. Conservative estimates suggest anywhere between 80,000-200,000 Freemasons were executed during the holocaust.

There was a real, genuine threat in the UK that our shores may be invaded if Hitler defeated the Allied Forces. Freemasons across Britain became acutely aware that their liberty… their very lives and the lives of their families were only precariously sheltered by 18 miles of sea in the English Channel. So Freemasonry was driven underground. Lodges disappeared from public view. There was a fear that being associated with Freemasonry could compromise the safety of families and who really knew what information could be gleaned by neighbours or acquaintances threatened with torture or death.

As time went on, it became easy to blame injustices and conspiracies on an organisation that failed to defend its good name. Members were not discouraged from keeping their membership quiet. Subsequent generations followed their fathers’ example and, ‘What does dad do? … Keep Mum!’  A euphemism for keeping quiet.

The impact of that silence remains today as people associate Freemasonry with the conspiracy theories and rumour that was never reproved in the years subsequent to the threat on their liberty. With this in mind, UGLE (United Grand Lodge of England) has made considerable steps in the last decade to redress this misconception. Freemasons are actively encouraged to talk about and promote the fraternity. Some habits die hard and some people would rather keep their membership quiet. We need to respect their wishes too. What is certain, is that their desire to remain private is their own choice rather than because of the content of our meeting or our organisation.

On The Level…?

Have you heard this phrase before? What does it mean to you? All things are equal, fairness, equality. Our membership spans a variety of professions and vocations. The beauty of Freemasonry is that it gives members from very differing backgrounds the opportunity to meet, chat and enjoy a comradeship that transcends faith or political ideals. How? Well because those two topics are strictly forbidden from discussion. This lends itself to objectivity, altruism and humility.

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