New Trashing Board 

Shakespeare Hotel Stratford-Upon-Avon
were the early brethren would met.
 

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History & Founders of Swan of Avon Lodge No 2133
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1886-1986

On the 12th February 1886 in the Union Club at Stratford-upon-Avon, the Swan of Avon
Lodge No 2133 was consecrated by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, W.Bro Col.
Machen ; after the Provincial Grand Lodge had first been opened by the R.Wor.Prov. G .Master
for Warwickshire, the Rt.Hon.lord Leigh. This was a notable event in the history not only of
Stratford, but also of the Masonic Province of Warwickshire; and the Lodge minute book records
the attendance of "a large number of Provincial Grand officers, present and past; a large number
of visitors; and of all the founders of the Lodge" . About 150 brethren were present so there must
have been much overcrowding.
The minutes also record that " a most impressive Oration was delivered by the Rev. G. F. Hough,
P. G. Chaplain ", and after Worshipful Master, Bro Charles Ranken Garnett P. M ., was duly
installed by Bro. D . Haynes , P. M.. 284. The W .Master then invested the following Officers :-

FIRST OFFICERS OF THE LODGE 

 Brothers Caseley and Butcher were included in a list of seven  joining members approved at the
same meeting, together with 14 candidates for initiation.  After the Lodge had been "closed in
due form ", the brethren "ajourned  for refreshment  to the Shakespeare Hotel, where the usual
toasts were proposed and received in due form", after which "the brethren separated in peace,
harmony and brotherly love".

CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF THE LODGE

The Shakespeare Lodge No.516 and the Apollo Lodge No. 301
In February 1793 nearly one hundred years before the consecration of the Swan of Avon Lodge,
the Shakespeare Lodge No. 516 had been consecrated  to meet at Stratford, and one year later
in 1794, the Apollo Lodge  (initially No. 537) was consecrated at Alcester .
The Shakespeare Lodge met at the White Lion, Henley Street Stratford, but it did not prosper
and was erased in 1799. The furniture from this Lodge, including the Bible, after a chequered
history now belongs to the Shakespeare Lodge No. 426, which meets at Spilsby, Lincs.; whilst
the Warrant of this Lodge is now in possession of the  Shakespeare Lodge No. 284, which meets
at Warwick.

The  Bard of Avon Lodge No. 778
Some 60 years later another attempt to establish masonry in Stratford was made, with the
consecration in 1859 of the Bard of Avon  Lodge No. 1080 (now No.  778). This met at the
Golden Lion Inn, Bridge Street, Stratford, and later at the adjacent Red Horse Hotel; but this
Lodge also did not prosper in Stratford,  and in 1872 its warrant was transferred to Middlesex,
in which Province it now still meets at Twickenham....  

Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting at Stratford 1874
On 29th October 1874, a special meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire was held
in the Town Hall at Stratford -upon-Avon, presided over by the Rt. Hon. Lord Leigh, R. W. Prov. G.
Master. On the occasion, representatives from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex, together
with brethren of the Bard of Avon Lodge were welcomed. The brethren proceeded from the Town
Hall to the parish church to hear a sermon by Rev. J. D., Prov. G Chaplain  (Mdsx.), and a dinner
followed at the Red Lion Hotel. No doubt many of the Middlesex brethren would take this
opportunity of viewing the Masonic memorial window in the Holy Trinity Church, which had been
presented some few years\earlier " in honour of William Shakespeare by his brethren of the Bard
oa Avon Lodge no. 778" , to quote from the inscription  beneath the window.

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