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PORTCULLIS LODGE No.  2038

1884 – 2012

The Minutes of Nyanza Lodge No. 1197 (Ilminster) record that on 22nd May, 1883, there was a request that the Lodge support the formation of a new Lodge at Langport.

In December 1883, a formal motion was deferred as there were not enough members present. The motion was eventually carried the following month.

The Warrant was granted on the 14th March 1884. A meeting place had been arranged at the Langport Arms Hotel owned by Bro.Barling of Nyanza Lodge and a founder of Portcullis Lodge.

The Consecration took place on Tuesday 24th June 1884 in Langport Town Hall and was conducted by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, V.W.Bro.R. C. Else, in the absence of the R.W. Provincial Grand Master, the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Caernarvon.

The local Railway Companies made special arrangements for Brethren travelling to the meeting, and 115 Brethren were there, including five official representatives of Provincial Grand Lodge, and representatives from fourteen Somerset lodges including  Royal Cumberland, Royal Sussex Lodge and of course Nyanza No.1197. The first Worshipful Master was W.Bro. John Hughes.

The first regular meeting of the Lodge was held 16 days later, on Thursday 10th July, 1884 at The Langport Arms Hotel which was to be the meeting place for the next seven years.

In April 1891 the Lodge discussed the possibility of using the “Hanging Chapel” (“St Mary’s Chapel”). The Langport Merchants Guild built the Chapel of St. Mary Eastover in 1353. The chance of using this beautiful Medieval Chapel was a heaven-sent opportunity and no account of Portcullis Lodge would be complete without a description of its unique meeting place.

A Chantry of the Blessed Virgin Mary was mentioned in 1344. The Langport Merchants had already formed a Guild and so built their own Guild Chapel and endowed it with two Fraternity Priests.

The Building, described as the "Hawning Chapel" was the Town Hall between 1547 and 1600.

In 1596 there is a reference to the "Town Hall commonly called the ‘Hanging Chapel’, which the whole town of Langport do use the said Chapel for a place for consultation”.  (A theory that it is called the “Hanging Chapel” after Judge Jeffreys’ activities in the region, is incorrect).

In 1645 the Chapel needed extensive repairs after the Battle of Langport. It became a schoolroom in 1706 (some naughty children scratched their names and dates on the stonework of the east window and they are still clearly visible today) and continued as such until 1790.

From 1809 - 1816 it was let to Colonel Pinney for the local militia to use as an arms store. In 1827 it was let as a store and in 1843 it was let to Mr E. Queckett as a museum.

In 1891 it was let to the present occupants, the Portcullis Lodge of Freemasons.

In 1915 the Freemasons removed the stonework which had blocked the two north facing windows for centuries and installed four stained glass lights in the original hamstone mullions. One window represents the Blessed Virgin and the Angel Gabriel. The other window represents King Alfred the Great who is said to have fortified Langport, and Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII, born on 31st May 1443.

She was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and the great-grand-daughter of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. She was Lady of the Manor and Borough of Langport, and used the Portcullis motif, the badge of the Beauforts. The Portcullis was adopted by Langport town as its Crest. A third internal window also shows the Portcullis motif in one light and the Square and Compasses in the other.

In October 1891, it was decided to hold meetings at the Hanging Chapel. Permission was obtained from Provincial Grand Lodge and Grand Lodge. The first meeting at the Hanging Chapel was on 12th November 1891 and was (appropriately) an Initiation. The lack of space - such a problem today - was not a consideration when average attendances were around twelve and about twenty-four at Installations.

In 2005 The Somerset Farmers’ Lodge started to hold its meetings in the Chapel

The Chapel of St. Mary is a unique example of a medieval Guild Chapel, and it is a pleasing thought that, as a Freemasons’ Lodge Building, it has - in a sense - returned to its original purpose.

In 1945 a new “Portcullis” Lodge No. 6085 was consecrated in London and – following a chance meeting in the Royal Masonic Hospital between a Brother from Somerset and a founder of the new London lodge – a fraternal relationship was established which endures today.

For many years Brethren from Portcullis Langport, have travelled to London in September for the 6085 Installation ceremony, and although the custom has lapsed in recent years, Brethren from London used to visit Langport for the May meeting of Portcullis 2038.

The Ruling Master of Portcullis London is – ex officio – an honorary member of the Langport Lodge, while the Langport Master always acts as Senior Warden at the London Installation ceremony.

A painting of St Mary’s Chapel is presented to the London Master at their Installation festive board and Portcullis Langport boasts a fine Broken Column Charity box, presented by the London lodge in 1949, which is used in all ceremonies of Initiation. At various times there have been Brethren subscribing to both lodges.

Portcullis Lodge celebrated its centenary in 1984 with a meeting in Huish Episcopi School and a banquet at the Langport Arms.

Like many ancient lodges, Portcullis has acquired a number of “traditions” in its ritual which today deviates noticeably from Strict Emulation. Indeed, Portcullis Lodge is known – not to say notorious – for its “Portcullis Workings”.

These are the result of variations which evolved (partly because of restricted space, and the configuration of the building) in the years between the consecration of the Lodge and publication of the first “official” Ritual in the 1960s – variations which caused dissention within the Lodge as well as with higher authority.

The Lodge workings were eventually codified in a booklet which is still referred to today and was the result of the work of a Ritual sub-committee set up under W.Bro Jack Dagworthy which reported in 1984.

Today – in spite of the restricted space – Portcullis Lodge boasts one of the highest subscribing memberships in the Province (happily they don’t all turn up at once!) and has a programme of ceremonies planned well into 2013.

Visitors are heartily welcome at ceremonies and to the festive board – still held in the Langport Arms. Visitors, Masonic or not, are very welcome to visit the Lodge building by appointment.