Freemasons ceremony open to public at new Hastings Masonic Centre
A somewhat secret society is opening the doors to one of its ceremonies this weekend to celebrate its new building in Hastings.
The new Hastings Masonic Centre will be officially opened this Saturday by the Grand Master of Freemasons New Zealand in a Masonic ceremony open to the public from 3pm to 4pm.
At the ceremony, Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum will unveil a commemorative plaque alongside national Grand Master Paul Chappel.
Past District Grand Master Nigel Friggens said Freemason ceremonies were closed, so the surprise wasn’t ruined for people joining.
“That’s the only reason it’s sort of secretive.”
But Friggens conceded all the details of Freemason ceremonies were available online.
He said the open ceremony was almost full, but anyone interested was invited to arrive early at the building at 117 Queen St East to try to confirm a spot.
Freemasonry had been in Hawke’s Bay for nearly 150 years, with the lodge’s first meeting in 1878 by candlelight in a St Aubyn Street school.
Modern Freemasonry evolved from medieval stonemason guilds and combined fellowship, personal development and charitable service.
Currently, there are more than 200 Freemasons across Hawke’s Bay, over 4500 across New Zealand and six million worldwide.
Prominent Hastings Freemasons have included the city’s former mayors Robert Wellwood (1886-87), John Miller (1909-11), George Roach (1929-33) and Sir Walter Edwin Bate (1953-59), plus business figures like Frederick Rush-Munro of Rush Munroe’s Ice Cream and Mick Thompson of Thompson’s Suits.
In 1901, then Prime Minister and Freemason Richard Seddon dedicated a purpose-built lodge room at the corner of Market and St Aubyn Sts in Hastings.
The new building replaced the Hastings Masonic Centre on Jervois St, which opened in 1998.
The new centre on Queen St East was home to the Heretaunga Lodge, founded in 1878; Lodge Haeata, founded in 1924; and the Hawke’s Bay Research Lodge, founded in 1933.
Local Royal Arch and Ancient and Accepted Rite for New Zealand (Rose Croix) chapters would also meet there.
The new facility housed the Hastings District Masonic Trust, established in 1965, which had developed eight retirement communities across Hawke’s Bay and contributed more than $530,000 in local grants supporting disability, hardship and education since 2017.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany and New Zealand.