Carnarvon
Lodge 1739
Presently on Summer Break - Next Meeting - Passing - 15th September 2026 at 18;30
Our Beginnings
Carnarvon Lodge was founded in 1878 by sixteen dedicated Freemasons: ten from Ferrers & Ivanhoe Lodge No. 779 (Leicestershire), five from Royal Sussex Lodge No. 353 (Derbyshire), and one from Abbey Lodge No. 624 (Staffordshire).
The main driving force behind the new Lodge was William B. Carrick‑Crofts, an Irish‑born doctor educated at Belfast University and the first medical practitioner in the district. Initiated into Ferrers & Ivanhoe in 1867, he later became Junior Grand Warden of Leicestershire, shortly before Carnarvon Lodge was consecrated.
In 1878, Church Gresley had no proper roads or street lighting, and travel to Lodge meant walking, riding, or using a horse‑drawn carriage. The village was small and remote, with only rough cart tracks connecting it to the surrounding area.
Because travelling at night to Burton or Ashby was difficult, the founders decided to establish a Lodge in Church Gresley, which lay conveniently between the two towns. The ten Brethren from Ferrers & Ivanhoe Lodge No. 779 had hoped their Lodge would sponsor the new foundation, but as Church Gresley was in Derbyshire—and Ferrers & Ivanhoe in Leicestershire—they turned to the five Brethren of Royal Sussex Lodge No. 353 to act as sponsors and become the official founders.
Right Honourable The Earl of Carnarvon
Lord Carnarvon was initiated into Freemasonry in 1856 as a member of Westminster and Keystone Lodge No. 10. In 1860 he was installed as the second Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, founded only four years earlier. A decade later, in 1870, he was appointed Deputy Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England by Lord Ripon, and subsequently served as Pro Grand Master from 1874 until 1890. His election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1875 further demonstrated his commitment to learning, science, geometry, and the intellectual spirit of the Enlightenment.
Such was the stature of the man whose name our Lodge proudly bears. Lord Carnarvon later served as Provincial Grand Master for Somerset, Deputy Grand Master, Pro Grand Master, and became the second‑longest‑serving Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council.
Famous Freemasons: "To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own." Abraham Lincoln