The Founding

On the 18th of May, 1892, a meeting was held at "The Falcon" public house in Clapham Junction "to consider the forming of a New Lodge at Wokingham in the Province of Berkshire".
On the 21st of June, 1892, the Founders met at St. Mark's School Rooms, Clapham Junction.
The list of Founders was:

· Lord Arthur Hill, 6th Marquis of Downshire;

· Henry Baker;

· A. C. A. Higerty;

· H. Creed;

· W. S. Jackson;

· J. M. Parsons;

· J. S. Taverner;

· G. Cranmer;

· D. N. Heron;

· F. Lowe;

· H. G. Powell;

· J. R. Rutter;

· J. A. Wells;

· F. J. Ferguson;

· T. L. I. Moncrieff; and F. R. Hall.

The Founders then met at the Town Hall in Wokingham on the 9th of July, 1892, to sign a Petition for Warrant to form the Lodge.
This was then submitted on the 25th of July and granted on the 11th of August 1892. The Lodge was then consecrated at the Town Hall in Wokingham on the 17th of September 1892 by Worshipful Brother John Thornhill Morland, M.A., D.P.G.M, Berkshire. After the ceremony 43 Brethren dined at The Rose Hotel in Wokingham.
R.W. Bro. Lord Arthur Hill, 6th Marquis of Downshire, after whom the swimming baths in Reading are named and who was the grandson of the 4th Marquis of Downshire after whom the Lodge was named, was installed as the Worshipful Master.
On the 16th of November, 1903, the Lodge sponsored the forming of the Lodge of Instruction which was started on the 2nd of December 1903.
The Lodge was named after the Marquis of Downshire, Arthur Wills Blundell Sandys Trumbell Windsor (Hill), (the fourth Marquis), who had been a Provincial Grand Master of the combined Province of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The Lodge crest bears his arms but not his family motto - 'Per Deum et Ferrum obtinui' - 'By God and my sword I have obtained.'

The marquis was born on the 6th of August 1812, went to Eton and Christchurch College, Oxford. Was made Sheriff of County Down in 1834, where he was the Conservative Member of Parliament from 1836 to 1845.
He was President of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1850 and was created a Knight of St Patrick in 1859.
He died on the 6th of August 1868 at the Dolphin Inn, Herne Bay, Kent.

He had many close ties with the county of Berkshire and was a member of Reading Lodge of Union No. 414, which meets at the Berkshire Masonic Centre.
His Installation as Provincial Grand Master of the combined Province of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire was held at Reading Town Hall on 21st February, 1848, with RW Bro Rev J Ridley, Prov. GM of Oxfordshire, conducting the ceremony.
He attained many titles during his life:

· Marquis of Downshire;

· Earl of Hillsborough;

· Viscount Hillsborough;

· Viscount Kilwarin;

· Baron Hill of Kilwarin;

· Earl of Hillsborough

· Viscount Fairford;

· Baron Harwich.

The first Master of the Lodge was Lord Arthur Hill, grandson of the 4th Marquis, Provincial Grand Master of County Down, and after whom the old Victorian swimming pool in Reading is thought to have been named.

The Marquis' family seat was in Easthampstead, and the Marquis was said to be quite a man with almost Herculean strength. He demolished the old mansion, leaving only a stable block, and built the present house which was completed in 1864. At about the same time as the present mansion was erected, the Marchioness provided for the rebuilding of St Michael's parish church, Easthampstead where there are memorials to the Trumbull and Downshire families and to the poet, Elijah Fenton.

The Lodge itself has spawned the following Lodges:

· Acorn Lodge No. 5985;

· Sindlesham Lodge No. 8293;

· and Erlegh Lodge No. 9110.

In 1946 the members of the Lodge purchased a building formally known as the Malt House for the princely sum of £4282.
The building was originally part of the Beches manor estate and is though to date from around 1700 but may actually be of earlier construction.
Originally the building was one long room with the dining area being separated from the Temple area by a curtain, but in 1975 a wall was built in honour of Bro. Cyril Crookson, and the beautiful oak doors were fitted in honour of Ernest and Harry Hawkins, father and son, to commemorate a combined 70 years as Tylers of the lodge.

Following this construction work, the new Temple was dedicated by R.W.Bro. Brig. E.W.C. Flavell, D.S.O., M.C., T.D., D.L., Prov.G.M., who in 1973 himself had a Lodge named after him, on Monday 15th September, 1975.
Since then much renovation work has been undertaken on the building itself and recently the Dining Room has been redecorated to provide more elegant surroundings for the festive boards.

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