The Story of a Great Lodge
Wayfarers’ Lodge (No 7995) has been meeting at the Gordon Centre in Bognor Regis for sixty years. It was founded on strength, and continues to go from strength to strength to the present day.
How Did it All Begin?
Just over sixty years ago, a group of seventeen Freemasons from various Sussex Lodges met together and decided that the time was right to form a new Lodge in Bognor Regis. At that time there were already three Masonic Lodges in Bognor Regis, all meeting at the Gordon Centre, which had been purpose built as a Masonic Hall in 1929. Many of the founding members of this proposed fourth Lodge were innkeepers, publicans or in some way connected to the hospitality industry. As throughout the ages it has been the innkeeper’s role to welcome wayfarers to their inns and offer warmth and hospitality to the weary traveller, so they chose the name “Wayfarers’ Lodge” for their new Lodge.
Three of the founders were members of Felpham Lodge (No 5413) and it was this Lodge that were approached and asked to sponsor the new Lodge. Thus, Felpham Lodge became the ‘Mother Lodge’ of Wayfarers’ Lodge. Felpham Lodge had itself been consecrated in 1933 as the daughter Lodge of Gordon Lodge (No 1726), which dates from 1878. Gordon Lodge has two other daughter Lodges: Bognor Regis Lodge (No 6295) consecrated in 1946,and Pagham Lodge (No 8280) consecrated in 1969. All five Lodges meeting in Bognor Regis are therefore connected to each other by this ‘family tree’ and all five Lodges continue to meet regularly to his day. In 1984, Wayfarers’ sponsored a daughter Lodge of its own, Bond of Friendship Lodge (No 9117) which meets in Littlehampton.
The United Grand Lodge of England were pleased to accede to the petition and a Warrant of Constitution was issued. The consecration was carried out on Tuesday, 8th December 1964 at the Provincial Headquarters in Brighton and was conducted by the Provincial Grand Master of Sussex, Right Worshipful Brother Arthur Jolly. He was attended by his Deputy Provincial Grand Master, two Assistant Provincial Grand Masters and a team of twenty-three other Provincial Officers. Altogether, nearly 190 masons attended the consecration. The first Worshipful Master of the Lodge was W.Bro. Marcel Genomi.