Autumn 2023Rochdale Masonic Hall

The Rochdale Masonic Hall on Richard Street was built in 1926/27 as a permanent home for the local Freemason groups (Masonic lodges) meeting in the area.

Freemasons are one of the oldest social and charitable organisations in the world. Freemasonry arrived in Rochdale on 14 June 1791; today, there are 12 lodges active in Rochdale.

The site chosen – part of the area owned by the Rochdale Canal Company – was purchased for £640.

Messrs Smith and Sons of Rochdale were the chosen architects, but most of the work was carried out by the architect Roderick Hildigore Baxter, a prominent Freemason of St Martin’s Lodge, which met in the Blue Pits Tavern in Castleton before the opening of the Masonic Hall.

Erected by local company Messrs W H Ashworth & Sons, the building has a frontage on Richard Street of 120 feet including the caretaker’s lodge.

The hall, then known as the Masonic Temple, cost £12,500 to build, with the furnishings costing an extra £2,500.

The hall was opened and dedicated on 1 November 1927 by The Earl of Derby, who laid the foundation stone the previous year on 26 September 1926.

After the dedication, a magnificent banquet consisting of 10 courses was held and reported on by the local newspaper.