The History of
Lodge of St John 191
Celebrating 250 Years
Lodge of St John, No, 191, was warranted in 1769 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2019. It is a truly Lancashire Lodge having met in Manchester, Warrington, St. Helens and finally Bury from 1845.
In all, the lodge has met in sixteen different meeting places, thirteen of them public houses, as was the custom in the past. The longest stay in any one place was at the Knowsley Hotel, Haymarket Street, Bury from 1871 - 1977. After 1977 the lodge moved to the Masonic Hall, Parson's Lane, Bury, its present day home.
The movement of the lodge between Lancashire towns in the early 19th Century was caused by economic and political unrest. This resulted in the warrant being taken to other towns, usually with the warrant being sold, a practice not allowed today!
The lodge in Bury has been very successful with members coming mainly from Bury but, also, from elsewhere. We have held many large meetings particularly those which have celebrated out important anniversaries. The last one of these was our 250th in September, 2019, which was attended by the Provisional Grand Master for the masonic province of East Lancashire and the Junior Grand Warden for England.
Lodge of St John was named after St. John the Baptist and is one of the oldest in Lancashire. We are very proud of our 250 years existence and look forward to the next 250 years!