Paper

Lodge and its Officers

Index
The Origins of the Lodge and a description of its key Officers.

Summary
History of the term ‘Lodge’ and its use in from the times of Operative Stonemasons who worked on the
great cathedrals and castles. An explanation of the name and function of each of the Lodge Offices from
the times of mediaeval craft guilds up to the current era.

Keywords
History, Lodge, Officers, Guilds, Mediaeval

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The Lodge and its Officers - Origins and Explanations.
Lodge
First of all, why do we have ‘Lodges’? Why not clubs, societies or teams? The answer lies in the origins of
Freemasonry with the Operative Masons. ‘Lodge’ is closely related to ‘lodgings’ (a place to live),
‘lodgement’ (a foothold), ‘to lodge’ (to put in place) and ‘loggia’ (a covered exterior gallery).

In the Middle Ages, stonemasons (Operative Masons) were itinerant workers who travelled from one
building project to another, as and when their skills were needed. This meant they required temporary
places in which to work, live, and sleep. The original Lodges would have been temporary wooden
workshops alongside the building under construction, where the masons would work, dress and carve
individual stones ready to be set in place. This was a skilled and demanding task, for not only did the stone
have to be cut to the right shape, but its grain had to be correctly assessed. Stones cut from sedimentary
rock have bedding planes which indicate how they were laid down. If the wrong plane is exposed to the
elements the stone will erode rapidly and weaken the building. The masons’ workshops were often quite
substantial and sometimes incorporated a forge where blacksmiths would make and sharpen the mason’s
chisels and other tools. Thus a Lodge was originally a place of work, though some of the younger
apprentices might well have lived and slept there too (hence ‘lodgings’). Over time, ‘Lodge’ began to be
used to denote the group of men who worked in such a workshop, which is why we use it today to
designate each group of Freemasons.

Master
At the head of each Operative Masons’ Lodge was a Master-mason, responsible for hiring and firing
workers, overseeing work and training apprentices. The status and income of such a man would have
depended upon the type of work he did. A man skilled enough to build a great castle or cathedral would
have been able to command a very high salary and might well have worked internationally as his services
were sought by kings, nobles and clergy. In addition to overseeing the work, the Master would also create
the overall plan the building, using principles of geometry known to only a select few, and would also
design doorways and windows. He was much more than just a stone cutter and would have ‘employed and
instructed’ his workers in their tasks. Just as today we say the Worshipful Master of a Lodge is placed in the
East to employ and instruct the brethren in Freemasonry. A mediaeval Master-mason thus fulfilled the
modern roles of architect, project manager, clerk of works, foreman and training officer, and perhaps even
a rudimentary health and safety officer. Our modern rituals, which demand that a Candidate should be
able to prove that he is fit and possessed of all his limbs, probably date back to the Middle Ages, where
accidents on building sites were frequent and often led to injuries and amputations, and no Lodge could
afford to take on board disabled apprentices who would be unable to do the physically demanding work.
Thus the Master of the Lodge was the person around whom the Lodge revolved, and this has been carried
forward into Freemasonry today: the Master is responsible for ensuring that the members of his Lodge are
well versed in the principles and practices of the Craft.

© UGLE 2018 “Solomon” – Fostering Curiosity, Developing Understanding 2

Wardens
During the Middle Ages, Guilds developed, not just to ensure that workers in a particular trade had the
correct degree of training and expertise, but also to protect them from exploitation and to ensure that
wages were not unduly depressed. Their role was mid-way between a trade protection society and a trade
union, with additional charitable and educational functions. As the number of guild members rose,
hierarchies of guild officers developed to help the Master of the Guild. Some of these officers were known
as ‘Wardens’, a title borrowed from the Church, denoting someone who looks after or protects a building
or a group of people. It is still used to denote the head of some colleges at the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, and each Church of England parish church has two Churchwardens; lay people who assist the
priest with the maintenance of the church building and safeguarding its assets. In the Middle Ages, the
churchwardens also held two of the three keys to the parish chest in which the plate and other valuables
were kept, with the priest holding the third key, so the chest could only be opened when all three were
present and in agreement, a system that has survived in some of the City of London Livery Companies,
where they are known as Upper Warden and Lower Warden; whereas in Masonry we have a Senior
Warden and a Junior Warden. In a similar system to the guilds, the Master-masons on larger building sites
would have had at least one assistant to help him oversee the other workers, he was often designated as a
Guardian, which developed into today’s Masonic office of Warden. The office can be traced back to at least
the 17th century in English Lodges. Today, the Lodge’s Junior Warden is charged with preventing
unauthorised people from entering the Lodge and with checking the Masonic credentials of visitors to the
Lodge.

Deacons
This is another title borrowed from the early years of the Christian Church, deacons were servants who
ministered to the sick and poor and managed the charitable activities of religious communities (this activity
is symbolised in the purse some church deacons still wear as part of their ceremonial dress). By the middle
ages, deacons had evolved into assistant priests and today ordination as a deacon precedes ordination as a
priest in most Christian denominations. In Freemasonry, there is evidence that some Scottish Lodges had
Deacons in the 17th century, but the term appears to have been interchangeable with Warden. The Lodges
affiliated to the Premier Grand Lodge of England (set up in 1717) did not have Deacons, while those who
adhered to the Antient Grand Lodge (set up in 1751) did have Deacons. There were disputes over whether
the symbol on the Deacons’ wands of office should be Mercury (the Roman equivalent of Hermes,
messenger of the Gods of Mount Olympus) or the Dove (the bird which brought the olive branch back to
Noah’s ark, thus becoming a messenger of peace). In the end, the Dove eventually prevailed. One of the
duties of the Deacons in a Lodge was to ‘charge’ (fill) the glasses of the Bretheren, so that each toast could
be appropriately honoured. Following the Union of the two rival Grand Lodges of England in 1813, Deacons
have become an established feature of all Lodges, and play central roles in the ceremonies of initiation,
passing and raising.

Chaplain
This office is a clear link back to the Mediaeval Guilds, which were all semi-religious bodies that often met
in churches and chapels (a more direct survival is the use of ‘chapel’, headed by a ‘Father’ in the printing
trade to designate a workplace trade union meeting). Some early Masonic manuscripts mention Lodges
having Chaplains before 1717, but it is unclear whether all Lodges had one: much seems to have depended
on local tradition. The Office of Grand Chaplain is, however, mentioned in 1775, and the Lodge Office was
confirmed by the 1784 Book of Constitutions. Today, the Chaplain offers Masonic prayers and readings,
and, in many Lodges, gives the Recitation in the Ceremony of Raising to the Third Degree.
© UGLE 2018 “Solomon” – Fostering Curiosity, Developing Understanding 3
Tyler
Though we don’t see much of the Tyler in our ceremonies, as he is outside the door of the Lodge, his is an
important Office that dates back to the early days of Freemasonry. In the 17th and 18th centuries, most
Lodges met in rented rooms in pubs or hotels and did not have their own secure premises. They therefore
needed someone to ensure that no intruders got into the Lodge during meetings, and who would secure
and set up the room where the Lodge met. The Tyler (a corruption of the French ‘tailleur’ meaning a stone
cutter) became the Officer charged with these jobs. Uniquely among the Lodge Officers, Tylers were often
full-time professionals travelling from Lodge to Lodge to perform their duties in return for a fee and a
meal. The custom of paying the Tyler continues to this day in many Lodges, and, since he is paid from
Lodge funds, he is elected by the Brethren, rather than appointed by the Master. Other Lodges have
unpaid Tylers who are appointed by the Master ‘without emolument’.

Inner Guard
The Inner Guard is the Tyler’s equivalent inside the door of the Lodge. The first mention of this Officer in
England in printed sources is around 1816. Note that one of the Junior Warden’s duties is to prevent
unqualified people from entering the Lodge, and he often deputed the most junior member of the
Brethren present to stand just inside the door to pass on messages from the Tyler about anyone seeking
admission. Over time, this role was formalised into the Office of the Inner Guard, who remains directly
answerable to the Junior Warden.

Secretary, Treasurer, Almoner and Charity Steward

The roles of the Lodge Treasurer and Secretary are largely self-explanatory, and no Lodge can survive long
without either of them. The origins of these Offices can be traced back to the emergence of organised
Freemasonry in the 17th century. The Office of Almoner, however, dates back before then, as the
mediaeval guilds and churches had almoners who supervised the distribution of charity to those in need,
and often were involed in raising charitable funds too. Most modern Masonic Lodges have separated these
two roles, with a Charity Steward in charge of raising charitable funds and the Almoner responsible for
their distribution.

Stewards
Today, a Lodge’s Stewards are responsible for the provision of food and drink for Lodge meals.
Appointment as a Steward is often the first step in a Brother’s progress through the Lodge Offices.
However, in the past, Stewards also played roles in Lodge ceremonies and rituals, and today there are the
prestigious Grand Stewards’ Lodge in London and special Lodges for Provincial Grand Stewards, who
perform important tasks at the meetings of Provincial Grand Lodges, such as welcoming distinguished
visitors arriving from the Grand Lodge at the Installation of a new Provincial Grand Master.

Director of Ceremonies
This Officer is only mentioned in Masonic records after the Union of the two rival Grand Lodges in 1813.
Before then, the conduct of ceremonies and ritual would have been entirely under the control of the
Master and Wardens (and Deacons in the Antient Lodges). Following the Union, there seems to have been
a move on the part of the Rulers in the Craft to move towards a more standardised ritual to bring together
the previously rival traditions. To this end, Lodges needs an expert Brother who could ensure the ritual was
worked correctly. It was also about this time that ‘Emulation’, the most commonly used form of ritual
working, began to be formulated. All of this emphasised the importance of the role of Director of
Ceremonies.
© UGLE 2018 “Solomon” – Fostering Curiosity, Developing Understanding 4
Organist
The greatly increased solemnity of Masonic Ceremonies after the creation of the United Grand Lodge of
England led to a desire for more serious forms of musical accompaniment in Lodges. Freemasons have
always sung songs during Lodge meetings (the Entered Apprentice`s Song goes back to the early 18th
century) but the musical accompaniment was often just a violin, harpsichord or piano. As Lodges began to
move out of rented rooms in pubs and hotels in the 19th century into purpose-built Masonic Halls, there
was a desire to adorn them with the most solemn of musical instruments, the organ. As the popularity and
respectability of Freemasonry increased, many parish church organists became Freemasons, and Masonic
choirs developed, who sang specially composed music for Ceremonies such as the consecration of a new
Lodge. More music of a hymn-like nature became a regular feature of Lodge meetings, and many Masonic
regalia suppliers and publishers began to publish sheet music too. Today, sadly, professional full-time
church organists are threatened with extinction and most Lodge Organists are unpaid amateurs. However,
technology has come to the aid of many Lodges without organs or Organists, as many recordings are now
available that can be played through a laptop, so the provision of musical accompaniment is open to
anyone who can push the right buttons!

Mentor
The most recent addition to the ranks of the Lodge Officers is the Mentor. This Office was introduced in
reaction to what many Brethren saw as an unacceptable rise in the drop-out rate of newer Freemasons.
The Mentor is charged with the pastoral care and oversight of newer Brethren. The dictionary definition of
‘mentor’ is an experienced person who offers long-term advice and support to someone younger, to
encourage them to pursue their objectives. The Lodge Mentor should therefore be aware of the
attendance records of all Brethren who have recently joined so that he (and possibly the Lodge Secretary)
can contact those who stop attending Lodge meetings to discuss any problems they may be encountering.
In larger Lodges, it will not be possible for a single Mentor to take on all the pastoral care required, so the
Mentor should ask other Brethren to assist him. Whoever undertakes the actual function of mentoring
should be an experienced Freemason, who has a ready ear and a sympathetic heart.

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Acknowledgement:
UGLE gratefully acknowledges David Hughes as the author of this document and for his permission to
publish it in this form.
Disclaimer:
The views or interpretations contained in this document are those of the author. UGLE recognises there
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