The Freemasons' Hall, often spelt Freemason's Hall, also known as the Toodyay Lodge, Templar Lodge, and Temperance Hall, on Fiennes Street,

Toodyay, Western Australia Toodyay (, nys, Duidgee), known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding i ...

, is a

masonic hall A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

built in 1879.

History

The hall built on land donated by Charles Marris for the purpose of building a temple for the

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. The Templars used the place and it was also the venue for Methodist Church services until 1898. In 1899, the Rev E. Holiday purchased the building for the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. On 20 November 1899, the building was consecrated and dedicated in Newcastle as No. 2803 (English Constitution). When the

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge (or Grand Orient or other similar title) is the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A Grand Lodge or Grand Orient is the us ...

of Western Australia was established some months later, its number changed to No. 37. In 1924, an additional wing was constructed designed by architect Percy Harrison, also a Freemason. When the road was widened, the front steps were demolished and the front door bricked up. The building was repainted to resemble the original colour of the bricks in 2014.

Architecture

The building is described thus in its heritage listing by Toodyay Shire Council: "Tall

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Mason hall with steep pitched iron roof and tall narrow windows set in recessed rounded arch openings. The extension to the rear with

skillion roof A shed roof, also known variously as a pent roof, lean-to roof, outshot, catslide, skillion roof (in Australia and New Zealand), and, rarely, a mono-pitched roof,Cowan, Henry J., and Peter R. Smith. ''Dictionary of Architectural and Building Te ...

is of a lean-to style. Painted brick and half timbering to gable apex are present. The front door is bricked in but the original dressings around the opening is still visible. The side extension of timber and iron on stumps adjoins a brick structure with shallower pitched gable roof and timber vented gable apex. There are high level small windows at rear."

Heritage listings

The building was classified by the

National Trust of Western Australia The National Trust of Western Australia, officially the National Trust of Australia (W.A.), is a statutory authority that delivers heritage services, including conservation and interpretation, on behalf of the Western Australian government and co ...

in 1977, listed on the municipal inventory in 2989, and

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

in 2012, for both its historic and aesthetic value.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Toodyay, Western Australia Fiennes Street, Toodyay Heritage places in Toodyay, Western Australia International Organisation of Good Templars Temperance movement in Australia Masonic buildings in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1879

History

Architecture

Heritage listings

See also

References