St Swithun’s Lodge Number 8550 is a Craft Freemason Lodge operating under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) in the Province of Berkshire, and was consecrated in May 1974.
We are proud to be a very diverse Lodge, welcoming men from all backgrounds. Whilst we enjoy upholding the traditions and values of Freemasonry, we like to think of ourselves as friendly and relaxed Lodge with an informative, engaging, yet fun atmosphere where everyone can feel at ease and enjoy our evenings.
We are a summer Lodge, meeting five times a year on the third Thursdays of May (Installation), June, July, September and October.
In addition to the Craft Lodge there is also a Royal Arch Chapter, St Swithun’s Chapter Number 8550, with whom we enjoy close links.
We also have close ties with St Swithun’s Lodge Number 4795 in Gosport, our annual annual reciprocal visits are always a highlight of the year!
We are always delighted to welcome visitors to our meetings, please do get in touch if you would like to visit us.
We would also love to hear from you if you are considering becoming a Freemason, which you can find out more about here.
Meeting venue
St Swithun’s Lodge meets in the oak panelled Council Chamber in The Guildhall in the centre of Abingdon. The Guildhall dates back to around 1440, and features glorious baroque rooms which are now in use for receptions and public events. After our meetings we dine in the Roysse Room, which was a a school at the time of Mary Tudor, established in 1556.
The St Swithun’s Lodge logo is (almost) that of the St Swithun’s shrine at Winchester Cathedral. When the Lodge asked the Cathedral in 1974 for permission to use this logo, it was refused. So a local artist (from Kennington) was engages to make sufficient alterations to it to make it “different” from the original, and that is how our logo came to be as it is today.
Who Was St Swithun?
St Swithun was Winchester Cathedral’s much-loved Saxon patron saint. It is known that he was born in Winchester around 800, became counsellor to the Saxon kings Egbert and Ethelwulf, and was Bishop of Winchester for the last 10 years of his life. When he dies in 863, he was buried in front of the west door of the Saxon Old Minster. Popular legend insists that the monks tried to move St Swithun inside the Old Minster, some nine years after his death. The saint, however, did not approve of his removal from exposure to the elements. There was a clap of thunder and it began to rain for forty days and forty nights!
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