The Hall That Never Was - South Shields Freemasons

The Hall That Never Was

The last section of this paper is about a non-event but it is appropriate to refer to it briefly to complete the story of the South Shields Masonic Buildings.

In the early 1950's great alarm was generated among the Lodges at Ingham Street by the publication of proposals by the Local Authority to re-develop the Central Area of the Town.

These proposals would have required the Hall to be demolished. It was, therefore, decided to set up a Building Fund to provide a replacement Hall and the 4 Lodges at Ingham Street agreed to contribute an annual sum per head of membership.

Because of the continued expansion of the Town to the South it was felt that a site further South than the Hedworth Hall was required and a piece of land was acquired in the Brinkburn area about a mile to the West of Harton Village. A limited company, The Brinkburn Masonic Temple Company Limited, was set up to administer the scheme.

The Lodges continued to contribute for several years when it became apparent that the Council's schemes were not going to materialize and payments were suspended. A few years later the land was sold and the whole project 'mothballed'.

The Ingham Street Building is over 100 years old and whilst its future is not threatened by external agencies it will have to be replaced sometime. The cost of new premises is beyond the resources of a single Lodge and will need the co-operation of all the Masonic Bodies meeting in the building at that time.

At a Special General Meeting of the Company held on 18th September 2000 it was resolved to wind up the Company and hand over the remaining funds to the Management Committee of the Ingham Street Freemasons' Hall.