Darwen Masonic Hall
www.pglel.co.uk homepage
Province of East Lancashire
Provincial Grand Master
Districts in East Lancashire
Manchester City Derby and Salford DistrictsDistrict 1 - Manchester City Derby
District 2 - Salford
Manchester City Starkie and City Sykes Districts
District 3 - Manchester City Starkie
District 4 - Manchester City Sykes
Central Area No. 1
District 10 - Ashton & Mossley
District 11 - Audenshaw
Central Area No. 2
District 12 - Oldham
District 13 - Rochdale
Central Area No. 3
District 14 - Bolton
District 15 - Bury
Northern Area No. 1
District 16 - Accrington
District 17 - Blackburn
Northern Area No. 2
District 18 - Burnley & Pendle
District 19 - Rossendale
About Freemasonry
Contact Us
For Lodge Officers
Legal Notices
Masonic Care
News
Our Charity ELMC
PROVINCIAL CALENDAR
Royal Arch
Secretariat Home Page
The Deacon
Useful Links
Redevelopment at Darwen Masonic Hall, Hawkshaw Avenue
The Darwen Masonic Hall Committee organized a redevelopment programme over the summer months of 2007 which included the complete roof of the main building being stripped and re-slated, with a special breathable underlining being used. 
Whilst this 130 / 140 year old building was found to be in excellent structural condition, the main problem to be encountered was the new Building Regulations, which stipulate the Insulation Specification to be used under a re-roofing programme. The Regulations demanded that at least ten inches of Fibreglass / Rockwool Insulation, or the modern equivalent be used. The specialist recommended an ‘Insulex’ product that was a 50mm Quilted Roll, (Space Age Technology), equal to 14 inches deep.
Scaffolding was a costly part of this extensive programme, and the external area was bedecked for over 2 months. The weather during the summer months did not help, with record rainfall throughout the UK, and in particular Darwen received more than enough …day after day!
Whilst the exterior was being re-clad, a team of tradesmen (and the usual volunteers) started to move furniture, fittings, Warrants, Pedestals, etc., etc., from the main Lodge Room, ready to drop the false ceiling, in order to examine, and prepare to attend to the ceiling damage, that had been caused by the faulty roof, over the past 15 / 20 years. One skip after another was filled with the accumulated rubbish on the upper floors of this old chapel school building, now ‘The Masonic Hall’.
Darwen Freemasons bought this property in 1965, and customized it to suit the requirements needed. Unfortunately, over the past 10 years, the eight Lodges meeting here have been reduced to just four, together with the “Lancashire Scouting Lodge of Allegiance”. Many other degrees meet here, alongside the two Royal Arch Chapters.
Earlier in the Spring, the complete refurbishment of the kitchens was done to the satisfaction of the environmental / health inspectors.
The decision was taken to re-clad the full and very high ceiling, incorporating the insulation quilt, inside extra thick plaster board. Then to redecorate, changing the colour scheme, to make it a modern decorative finish. An appeal was made to the local paint manufacturer, who reciprocated with enough product to complete the project, for which we are most grateful.
In removing the false ceiling, this uncovered the beautiful character of this typical Victorian beamed interior of this Chapel / School. Also, by uncovering the windows, we discovered the leaded glass in the Norman Arched side windows, and a magnificent coloured leaded light, Rose Window, over 17 feet in diameter, at the eastern end of the lodge room, behind the Worshipful Masters Chair. This illustrates immaculate true Mason’s Art and Craftsmanship in our own building.
The work continued inside and out, throughout the months of June, July, August and September 2007, and in doing this work created over 25 Tonnes of dust and rubbish and scrap metal, which was transported away in Skips. The few stalwart Masonic members, rallied to offer their services voluntarily, to get this enormous job completed, and soon the beauty of this historic Chapel / School building, was beginning to show from the decorative materials being used. 
The Tradesmen (who were also Freemasons) worked endless hours, the skills of their craft, being used nearly thirty feet above floor level, on the scaffolding, sometimes being like the Church Artists of ancient times, lying on their back to fit the Insulation and Plasterboard in the awkward places, then after skimming the boards, the ‘Painting Team’ decorated with 2 coats of emulsion.
Below, at floor level, the Pillars supporting the building, were uncovered from the boxed-in sections, to reveal round Victorian cast iron pillars. These pillars were then cleaned up and painted black and gold. All the theatre style seating had been dismantled from the bases, and re-furbished, to look fully restored, with the cast iron trames being painted gold.
At the eastern end of this very large room, a wooden screen with windows was temporarily removed, to accommodate a raised wood floor, the screen then being replaced to each side of this new flooring, which gave access to the ‘Emergency Exit Stairway’, but also opened up this area to reveal the full beauty of the Rose Window.
The curtains for this eastern window were designed and produced by another Freemason and some of the statistics, are really fascinating :-
- The Eastern Window curtain measures 7.70m x 7.07m (25 feet x 22.5 feet)
- The Ten Side Windows are each 3.55m x 3.25m (11 feet x 10.5 feet)
- Over 150 metres of heavy crimson, thermal lined, fire resistant material was used.
- Approx 3000 metres of heavy grade polyester thread was used.
- 50 metres of wide ’Rufflette Tape’ were used and uncountable hours spent watching a needle stitching, re-threading the needle, re-winding the bottom bobbins, using hundreds of pins in preparing the material, then taking them all out again, cutting and measuring the material.
A refurbished heavy duty theatre curtain track, with over 100 feet of ‘Pull Cord’, was fitted whilst the scaffolding was in place. When the scaffolding had been dismantled, some weeks later, a Valance Curtain had to be designed to cover up the Theatre Curtain Track, but supporting this width of building needed special brackets and very strong square section bars, as this Valance Curtain measured 10.80m x 1.5m (35 feet x 4.88 feet). This extra fitting had to be performed at the top of a 30 ft ladder, this was just another task by … “The Team”.
With the 28 Tonnes of scaffolding having been removed from inside the building, all ‘Handballed through a small window’, the task of cleaning up was started, there had been dust and ceiling plaster dropping everywhere, the carpets had been protected with plastic sheets, but some of the sheets had been damaged with all the ‘busy traffic’ of ladders and scaffold etc., etc. At one stage four vacuum cleaners were employed, with another voluntary team of Ladies. One lady actually stated “I enjoy doing this type of work, it is very therapeutic, to get the reward of making something look beautiful again ”.
The lighting in the hall was still that originally installed over 25 years ago. When these spotlights were re-set they provided an appealing ambience which highlights the work and effort in this refurbishment of our magnificent Masonic Hall. All the theatre style seating was re-fixed, and the curtains all hung on the new curtain tracks, the furniture placed back, and various important documents hung on the walls.
The months had passed by, the Masonic Lodge meetings had been accommodated in other rooms in the building, sometimes a bit of a squash, but most members tolerated this temporary inconvenience. Eventually the Temple was declared nearly complete, and the first ceremony was the Installation for Peaceful Valley Lodge No 4111, on the first Monday in November 2007. The total work was really admired by all attending, even if the heating had not quite got to a comfortable level.
Further projected refurbishment will continue, in other upper floor rooms, as and when funds are available. The Chairman and Masonic Hall Committee thanked all the volunteers, and tradesmen, for the combined effort, in achieving the completion of this project, which is a credit to all concerned, and which will, no doubt be admired for many years to come.
WBro Ian S Ashton, PPJGW, Communications Officer.
Dated 10th November 2007