History of the Bridgwater Masonic meeting places.

The Bridgwater Masonic Centre in King Square, is administered by a committee representing the various Lodges which meet there. These are: The Lodge of Perpetual Friendship No. 135, Admiral Blake Lodge No. 4692 and Tynte Lodge no. 7994, together with a Royal Arch Chapter and Mark Lodge.

The Lodge of Perpetual Friendship, which was formed in 1756 (although not warranted until 1764) had met in various licensed premises in Bridgwater before deciding on the provision of their permanent home, which took place in 1909 and can be found in King Square.

Just recently, Tynte Lodge’s W Bro Tony Saunter, PProvGStwd, came across a bricked up old entrance of The Lamb Inn on Lamb Lane, Bridgwater (see image above) which was utilised by the Lodge of Perpetual Friendship in 1790. The site is now the rear of The Duke public house on the High Street. The Lodge remained at the Lamb Inn until 1866 when they moved back to the Royal Clarence Hotel. In 1908 it was decided to provide a Masonic Hall and the following year a suitable site in King Square was purchased (see image 2).

Tony approached the landlady of The Duke public house and asked if he could restore this old entrance. She readily agreed and Tony proceeded to do this at his own expense and time. (see image above).

Our huge thanks to Tony Saunter for his time, hard work and excellent contribution to keeping alive our history of Lodges in Bridgwater.