Marcus Vitruvius Lodge No.4985

Marcus Vitruvius Lodge N^o.4985

I am a Past Master of my Mother Lodge, Marcus Vitruvius. For those non-Freemasons that may be reading, a Freemason refers to the Lodge that he was initiated into as his Mother Lodge. Marcus meets at the Central London Masonic Centre in Clerkenwell Green in the City of London, about half a mile from St. Paul's Cathedral. The Centre was originally the Middlesex Sessions Court and was bought by a number of Lodges in the 1970's and converted into a Masonic Centre. It now houses several Temples (the rooms where Masonic meetings take place), Lodge of Instruction Rooms (where Masons meet to practice the ceremonies), two bars and several Dining Rooms.

In October 1927, nineteen Brethren presented a petition to the United Grand Lodge of England for a warrant to hold a Lodge at the Cannon Street Station Restaurant in the City of London. A Warrant was granted by Grand Lodge, the petition (which was sponsored by Vitruvian Lodge N^o. 87) having been accepted.

On the 4th January 1928, the Marcus Vitruvius Lodge N^o.4985 was duly consecrated at the Cannon Street Hotel by the V.W Bro. Colville Smith CVO. The first Worshipful Master of Marcus Vitruvius Lodge, W Bro. F.J. Dexter was then installed to the chair of the Lodge. At this first meeting, one of the propositions was that the Lodge should aim to become a Hall Stone Lodge. In order to gain this honour, a minimum donation, per head, needed to be made to the fund to build the present Freemason's Hall in Great Queen Street London (open to the public). This was achieved and on 3rd December 1930, a medal (the Hall Stone 'Jewel') was awarded to the Lodge and this has been worn by the incumbent Master ever since.

Since that date, several other honours - for charitable donations - have been awarded to the Lodge: Three for donations to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls (1953, 1957 and 1962), others for donations to the Royal Masonic Hospital, the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and the latest a Gold Jewel for donations to the New Masonic Samaritan Fund. These donations were to Charities administered by Grand Lodge but every year, in common with other Lodges, Marcus Vitruvius donates internally drawn funds to the Master's chosen charity for that year. My chosen charities support sufferers in the UK of Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's Disease.

Returning to the consecration of the Lodge. Masonic ceremonies are normally followed by a banquet, referred to as the 'Festive Board'. Nowadays, the common fayre consumed consists of steak and kidney pudding or some similar 'school dinners' type dish (veggie lasagne in my case). In 1928, things were much different as the menu for the first Marcus Vitruvius festive board illustrates:

Fourteen years later, however, at the height of the Second World War, things were much different. The records of the time show the Brethren eating Whale Meat, Horse Flesh and Wood Pigeon with rationing limiting supplies to necessary good only.

The Lodge is named in honour of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c. 80�70 BC, died after c. 15 BC), a Roman architect and engineer of the first century BC. Marcus Vitruvius wrote of one of the most influential works on architecture in history. His work, 'Ten Books on Architecture' was written to Caesar in an attempt to inform the Emperor on the subject of architecture so that he might make informed decisions concerning the construction of public buildings. Still in print today, the Ten Books on Architecture are a comprehensive essay on the architecture of the era and teach many lessons still employed today.

The Ten Books on Architecture (De architectura/On architecture) is still in print: ISBN 0-486-20645-9.

Vitruvius' work suggests that an architect needs a good understanding of philosophy, geometry, music, medicine - indeed all of the liberal arts and sciences. This system is adopted in Freemasonry which takes architecture, geometry and symbolic understanding of the liberal arts and sciences as the basis for instruction in the morality of Man.

The Lodge crest of Marcus Vitruvius N^o. 4985 shows the Pont du Gard at Nimes in France. This aqueduct is credited to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and dates from around 19 BC.

Pont Du Gard - Nimes, 1780s and today

BACK