History
Freemasons's Hall South Shields
The tender for the Freemasons' Hall amounting to £2,247.00 was accepted on 16th March 1884. ‘The Foundation Stone was laid on 9th June 1884. A special Lodge was held at the Wesleyan Schoolroom, Chapter Row. By special dispensation the brethren, in full Masonic Regalia and headed by the band of the Third Durham Artillery Volunteers, marched in procession to the site of the new Hall.
The Foundation Stone was laid by the Mayor of South Shields, W. Bro. T.G. Mabane. After the ceremony the procession returned to the Schoolroom and closed the Lodge. A Banquet, held afterwards in the Golden Lion Hotel, was attended by 130 Brethren including distinguished Provincial Officers. The Hall was opened on 9th February 1885 the Regular Meeting of St. Hilda Lodge and the St. Hilda and Hadrian Lodges began working in their new home and remain there to this day.
The cost of the Hall was financed by a Mortgage which was finally paid off on 1st October 1916. In 1925 the hall was extended and improved. The Lodge Room was enlarged, the Banqueting Hall extended to accommodate 170 diners (fire regulations have reduced this substantially) and new Club Rooms, Kitchen, Servery etc., added.
The total cost including refurbishing amounted to £5,297.14.8d. This sum was also financed by Mortgage – finally paid off in January 1948.
Situated adjacent to the Town Centre it has been threatened on a number of occasions by development schemes of the Local Authority. For a variety of reasons (usually financial) these came to nothing until the early 1980’s when the adjacent school site was cleared and redeveloped as a supermarket.
Happily, Freemasons' Hall was not affected and has been progressively refurbished and developed over the last 25 years and continues as a very active centre of all South Shields Freemasonry at the ripe old age of 126 years. . It now stands in splendid isolation and we have the use of the store’s very large car-park.
The hall has been extensively renovated internally during an ongoing refurbishment programme that started in 2000, which has included a new club room and bar, toilets, kitchen and function room.
Up to a maximum of 120 guests can be accommodated and the main hall can be set out in bierkeller or caberet style, with plenty of room for a dj and dance area. There are car parking facilities nearby for 20 cars, plus on-street parking in adjacent streets.
The hall comes complete with tables covered in banqueting roll but for a small fee per table you can upgrade to linen cloth.
The hall hosts, Wedding receptions, Birthday Parties, Anniversaries, Christenings, Funerals, Toddler Groups, Weight Loss & Slimming Groups and Community and Charity Groups. And is the home for the thirteen masonic organisations that reside there.
