Our History

Eling Manor Lodge No 7337 in the Masonic province of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

To celebrate 300 years of Freemasonry our lodge was asked to write a short piece for the Province of Hampshire and Isle Of Wight, here's a link to that history.

Where did the name of our Lodge, Eling Manor come from?

It was first thought that Eling Manor referred to a large house near to the Masonic Hall which has now been renamed to Colbury House by a previous owner but look into it a little more the probable reality is that Eling Manor actually refers to the whole area or Manor of Eling, i.e Totton, Netley Marsh, Marchwood, Testwood, Copythorne & Colbury.

Eling Manor is mentioned in the Doomsday Book and was owned by the Crown until 1193 and was then purchased by the Hussey family. The Hussey family crest included a cross vert (green cross) which can be seen in the Lodge's Emblem as on the pictured Founders Jewel. For further reading regarding the history of the area please see the British History Online website

When did Eling Manor start?

The Eling Manor Lodge was consecrated on Friday 6th April 1954. Initially the lodge met at the Masonic Hall in Lymington, Hampshire. But it soon moved to it's present and permanent home at Totton Masonic Hall, Lexby Road, Totton, Hampshire. The patronage of the Lodge is held by The Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys.

From the early days the brethren of the lodge were proud of the quality of the ceremonies they performed. This pride has filtered down through the years and the quality of the work that the brethren do today is still held in high esteem.

Who started the Lodge?

The founders in of the lodge in 1954 were as follows.

The Lodge Banner

Our lodge banner was made and presented by one of the founder members of the lodge W. Bro Charles Hopkins.

Typically a lodge banner can take six months to make. It has to go through many stages of approval before it can be displayed in the temple when the lodge is open. These include lodge committee approval, provincial approval and Grand Lodge Approval. The design is usually sketched on paper then painted in colour for the approval process. Then once this has been passed the real Banner is made with silks by hand from the artwork approved.

One of our founder members W. Bro Henry Gray designed and made banners for lodges all over the South of England, he has made many dozens of banners and other pieces for masonic lodges for many years.