STOURBRIDGE Freemasons have celebrated the opening of a new freemasonry centre in the town after quitting their long-time masonic hall at The Talbot Hotel where they had been meeting for centuries.
The Deputy Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Sue Greenaway, and her consort, husband Desmond, attended the official opening of the new base at the former Carlisle Hall in Victoria Street, just off the ring road, on Sunday August 29.
A cheque for £150 was handed over for the Mayor of Dudley's chosen charities for 2021-22 and Wollaston resident Constance Webb 'cut the ribbon' at the new centre - having bought the building for the Freemasons in memory of her late husband James Webb.
Constance Webb cutting the ribbon at the new masonic hall in memory of her late husband
The Stourbridge Masonic Management Co had been looking for a new place to meet for some time - having called the historic Talbot Hotel in Stourbridge High Street home since 1733.
Lodges from Dudley will also join the Stourbridge Freemasons in relocating to the new centre, which will be known as the James S Webb Freemasonry Centre.
Constance Webb
The building was previously used by Dudley Mind and before that the WRVS - having originally been built as a Temperance Hall in 1922 in memory of the Countess of Carlisle, national president of the British Women’s Temperance Association.
Anyone wishing to find out more about Freemasonry, one of the oldest social and charitable movements in the world, can visit website http://www.ugle.org.uk/
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