The beginning. 

On Thursday, 3rd September 1925, Peacehaven Lodge, No. 4754 was consecrated in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, by the Dep. Prov. G.M., W. Bro. Major R. Lawrence Thornton, CBE., DL., P.G.D., ably assisted by a team of Provincial Grand Officers.

 

The Dep. Prov G.M. then installed our first Worshipful Master, W. Bro. Cpt. G.W. Burrington, P.M. Moore Keys Lodge, N. 2519, Jamaica.

 

In addition to the consecrating team there were 46 Prov. G. Officers present and also 125 other visitors.

There were eight Founders present, each of whom received an office as follows

W. Bro. Cpt. G.W. Burrington WM.
Bro. George A. Byford SW.
Bro. George E. Buck JW.

Bro. A.G. Hannan Treasurer

Bro. J. Catt Secretary.
Bro. T.F. Saunders SD.

Bro. C.S. Richards JD.

Bro. Major T.R. Griffiths IG.

Bro. JH. Buckley Organist.

 

The Consecration Banquet consisted of a 7-course meal followed by a Cabaret.  The charge for this lavish even was just 8/6d. (approx. 43p) per head.

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Forty years in the wilderness

The consecration warrant authorised the Lodge to meet at Sankey's Hall, Peacehaven.  Ernest Sankey was a member of Peacehaven and installed as Master in 1936.

On Friday, March 11th 1927, (the Lodge met on Fridays in those days) it was proposed, and seconded and duly carried, that a Committee be formed for discussing, and if possible, formulating plans for the erection of a Masonic Temple in Peacehaven. Amongst the 12 committee members was Bro. R.A. Standing.

Those Brethren were set a particularly difficult task. Peacehaven in 1927 was very reminiscent of a colonial Settlement. Electricity had been provided by three large diesel engines owned by the 'Peacehaven Electric Company' which was expensive to use. Building supplies were almost impossible to obtain during this period after the war, most houses were constructed out of second-hand timbers and asbestos. The first brick build property constructed in Peacehaven was in 1923. Incidentally, had Peacehaven Lodge been formed ten years earlier, it may well have become 'New Anzac-on-Sea' Lodge as this was then the name of the 'settlement'.

The September Meeting of 1928, was held at the Peacehaven Hotel, Peacehaven, by dispensation. An emergency Meeting was held in October 1928 at the Peacehaven Hotel at which it was carried, unanimously, that the Lodge would hold its future Meetings at the Peacehaven Hotel instead of Sankey's Hall and that By-Law No. 1 be amended accordingly.

1930's Installation Meeting was held at the White Horse, Rottingdean. In September of the same year at an emergency meeting held, by dispensation, at Sankey's Hall, the Lodge re-instated By-Law No. 1 in its original form, i.e. to meet regularly at Sankey's Hall. The hotel's new Manager, it would appear, having decided to use the Lodge-room as a
billiard-room.

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In November 1931 application was made to the M.W. the G.M. for the permission to change the Meeting days from the 2nd Friday to the 4th Wednesday of the month, and the next Meeting was held on Wednesday, 24th February, 1932.

The Installation Dinner in 1940 was held at the Bridge Hotel, Newhaven, and that in 1941 at the Peacehaven Hotel.

In May 1945, the Lodge met at the Sussex Masonic Temple, Brighton. The dispensation for that meeting was signed by a new Prov. G. Sec. - W. Bro. Arthur Jolly - and that was our first official contact with him.

In September 1953, the Installation Meeting was held at the White Horse, Rottingdean.
 

On the 31st of December 1954, Sankey's Hall closed and Meetings were then held at Telscombe Hall, Tyedean Road, for the following thirteen years. The venue for the after-proceedings, however, was still subject to frequent change.

On the 21st September 1966, a Meeting of Lodge Members was held at the Dewdrop Inn, Peacehaven, to discuss the building of a Masonic Hall in co-operation with other local Lodges. It was decided that Peacehaven Lodge would become a Founding-Lodge and would give the scheme whole-hearted support.

W. Bro. R.A. Standing and S. Smith were elected to represent our Lodge, and the former became Vice-Chairman of the Building Committee.

Jerrom Hall

George Jerrom was the owner of the Bowls Club in Peacehaven. He was also an enthusiastic Mason and when he died, his wife Dorothy decided to donate an area of land adjacent to the Club, to the building of a new Masonic Temple for the area and the building was subsequently named Jerrom Hall.

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The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Provincial Grand Master, The Right Worshipful Brother Arthur Jolly J.P. at a special ceremony on the 24th May 1967 with nearly 200 members of various Lodges in the Province of Sussex in attendance.

 

The next two Installations Meetings - 1966 & 1967 - were held at the Sussex Masonic Temple, Brighton, and then in January 1968, we held our first Meeting in our new and Permanent home - Jerrom Hall.

 

After 40 years, Bro. Reg Standing task of finding a new home for Peacehaven was complete.  Upon his death in 1970 his ashes were placed in the wall on the right-hand side of the stairs leading to our Temple, and a Commemorative plaque was duly erected. 

 

Meals on the move
At the Meeting on October 25th 1939 the W.M. gave notice of the following motion: 'That the annual subscription be reduced to £1.1s.0d. (£1.05p) - non-dining - during the period of 'hostilities'. At the next Meeting this motion was put to the brethren and duly carried.
Peacehaven thus became a non-dining Lodge until 1968. For the next two years refreshments (sandwiches and beer) were served at Sankey's Hall at 1/- (05p) per head.

The Lodge resumed dining at the Ship Hotel, Newhaven, and then in 1949 at the White Horse Hotel, Rottingdean. As the years went by Peacehaven Lodge was indeed on the move where meals were concerned, using the White Horse, Rottingdean, the Peacehaven Hotel, the Conservative Club, Newhaven and the Downland Hotel, Saltdean.

In January 1968, Peacehaven had is first dinner at Jerrom Hall.

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A Daughter is born.

On the 8th of July 1927, the Peacehaven Lodge No. 4754 resolved to Petition the M.W. the Grand Master for the formation of a new Lodge, to be named The Rottingdean Lodge.  The Petition was duly prepared. The names of all the fourteen Founder Members being recorded
therein, and the Petition was signed by the W.M. W.Bro. G.A. Byford, along with his S.W. Bro. J.M Catt, and J.W. Bro. C.S. Richards.

In due time the M.W. The Grand Master granted the Petition from Peacehaven Lodge and on Friday 23rd September 1927, at the Royal Pavilion Brighton, the Rottingdean Lodge No. 4961 was Consecrated in the Presence of three-hundred visitors.

As a point of interest on the Consecration of Rottingdean Lodge, W. Bro. G.A. Byford and Bro. C.S. Richards had become Founder Members of two Lodges, our own Lodge being the first.

W. Bro. G.A. Byford was the first Master of Rottingdean Lodge, and Bro. J.M. Catt was appointed Senior Warden.

Rottingdean members from Peacehaven Lodge:

G.A. Byford 1927 — Gentleman’s outfitter, ‘Domus’ S. Coast Rd, Peacehaven.
J.M. Catt 1927 — Bank Manager, at Newhaven.
T.F. Hazelsine 1927 — Hotel Proprietor, ‘Whitehorse’ Rottingdean.
F.F. London 1927 — Masonic Outfitter & Jeweller, Queens Rd, Btn.
W.H.G. Colbourne 1927 — Recorded as ‘Gentleman’, Newhaven Rd, Rottingdean.
C.S. Richards 1927 — Financier, ‘Dorothea’ Dorothy Ave, Peacehaven.
W.L. Simms 1927 — Builder, Phyllis Ave, Peacehaven.