Our home is a beautiful old building which hasnt changed much since this photo was taken, with the exception of the cupola being removed from the roof in 2003.  

 

On our first floor we have one of the most impressive Temples to be found in our region.  All visitors to our Lodge rooms have commented as such with regards to its size, decor and design and unusual ritualistic symbolism and carvings.     

 

On the ground floor we have a bar and seating area along with a large capacious dining room that seats up to 75.

 

The bar and the dining rooms are often used by members of the Lodge for private functions as well as Lodge social functions.

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RETURN TO THEIR SPIRITUAL HOME

 

The oak panelling and door architrave now situated on the landing outside the entrance to the temple at Hipperholme Masonic Hall, Halifax were carved by the renowned ecclesiastical carver, Harry Percy Jackson Sr who moved to Morriscot, Coley, Halifax in 1906.  Examples of his work can be found in St Matthew’s Church in Lightcliffe, as well as Northowram, also in the Jackson Room in Brighouse Library.  In 1930 Harry Percy Sr, was hurt in an accident near the Stone Chair, Shelf, although he recovered from his injuries, he never carved again.

 

The carvings on the panels depict symbols from the Craft, Royal Arch, Mark, Knights Templar, Rose Croix and the Scottish Rite. 

 

 

The panels were offered for sale by Mr and Mrs Koomar, the current owners of Langlea House, Hipperholme, Halifax when their nursing home business at Langlea was dissolved and numerous members of Lightcliffe Lodge generously funded their purchase. UGLE records show that Langlea House was never consecrated as a masonic meeting place.

 

With the help of W Bro Donald Cheyne, W Bro Rob Barton set about the almost impossible task of remodelling the panels to fit the entrance area to the temple. During their removal from Langlea, all the pieces were individually numbered, the dividers between each panel came in four pieces, not including the cornice.   

At the time of their sale, the provenance of the panels was unknown, until a lodge member remembered reading in the Lightcliffe Lodge history, written by W Bro Dr Rod Taylor, that Langlea was the former home of W Bro John Herbert Fletcher, the founding Senior Warden of Lightcliffe Lodge 3332 in 1908 and the co-founder of Earnshaw & Fletcher Ltd, worsted manufacturers of Lumbrook Mills, Northowram, Halifax.  W Bro Fletcher’s mother lodge was Truth No.521 Huddersfield.

 

On the Lodge’s consecration, W Bro Fletcher donated a set of 16 collars and silver hallmarked jewels, later with the Master’s Chair within the Temple in 1925; his initials can be seen on the back rest below an archer (fitting as a Fletcher was the term used for an arrow maker).

W Bro Fletcher was also a founder member of Victory Lodge in 1919, who ironically now meet in the same building.

 

W Bro Fletcher was the first member of Lightcliffe Lodge to be appointed as Provincial Junior Grand Warden.  He remarried in 1940 and moved to Coley Hall, the home of his new wife, Alice Sunderland.  Coincidently, Coley Hall, was in the early 18th century the home of William Horton, West Yorkshire’s very first Provincial Grand Master.

 

In June of 1949, W Bro Fletcher presented the Lodge with a case of masonic tools, which had been in his family for some considerable time.  This would be his last offering to the lodge as he died in December 1949. 

Although this case can no longer be found, W Bro Cheyne donated a dilapidated case of tools that came from Brooklands Lodge in Cheshire, this was remodelled by W Bro Barton, who used one of the carvings from one of the unused panels, when he constructed a new lid for the case.

 

 

It seems that fate had a very large hand in ensuring that these oak panels were returned to their spiritual home and Hipperholme Masonic Hall is indebted to the generous donations and the passion of the brethren of Lightcliffe Lodge to see them preserved in the correct setting, where their rich lustre and history can be enjoyed by others.  Their presence in their new spiritual home seems like “they’ve always been here”, which is the most common phrase used when they have been viewed.

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