Henley Masons

HENLEY Masonic Centre welcomed hundreds of visitors into its Thames Lodge building in Reading Road, Henley as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Days.

Sporting aprons denoting membership to some of the
56 lodges throughout Oxfordshire, freemasons guided visitors through the lodge, which was purpose-built for the Masons in 1890.

Freemason Darren Morris-Spruce said: “A lot of local people have never been in here. It was opened in 1890, before that the masons met at the former Red Lion hotel [now Relais Henley], and then a donor, Rev Horlock, gave the funding for the building to be built and bought the land. It’s a really historic building and we want to be more visible in the community.

“Last year, Masons raised about £84m in the UK and yet you never see us out collecting in the streets — we don’t work like that. We do an awful lot for charity.”

Mr Morris-Spruce said that the Oxfordshire branch of the Masons, which includes the Henley centre, donated £300,000 to 52 charities last year.

Geoff Walsh, who has been the Worshipful Master of Thames Lodge since 2023, said it hosted a charity giving event recently which brought local charities together to share how their donations had made an impact.

He said: “The charities were real, local charities. There were a huge amount of people who support hospices, little, tiny charities, and the province gave them £500 each. You wouldn’t believe the effects that that had on these people.

“We sat everybody down and asked them what they do and what that £500 would do for them, so that we can have them back again.

“Some of the charities didn’t even know that each other existed and they’re all from the Thames and South Oxfordshire area.

“They were swapping names and sharing resources, which is a phenomenal side-effect of what we were trying to do and I think we did a cracking job.”

Lucie McHugh