Bedford Masonic Lodge, Tavistock
Bedford Lodge, Pym Street, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0AW
The Freemasons Hall in Pym Street is the home of Bedford Lodge, which has been meeting in Tavistock since 1791. Meetings were held firstly at the King's Arms, then The Bedford Hotel, and the Abbey rooms in Church Gate / Town Hall, and in 1894 the meetings were held at 84 West
In September 1899 a site was purchased from the Duke of Bedford in Barley Market Street opposite the Temperance Hotel at the corner Love Lane. The Temperance Hotel became the council offices and later the Ordulph Hotel.
The Foundation Stone was laid in January 1901. James Dennis and Thomas Kerslake drew the designs. Kerslake’s building firm, was responsible for the construction. The cost was £944.
The Keystone over the arched entrance to the Lodge building is a facsimile of the Lodge seal with an inscription in Greek " All Glory to the Most High". On each side of the doorway was a Pallister with a Corinthian Head. The hall is paved with oak block flooring, rooms for committee meetings on either side. The staircase of mahogany and Piranha pine leads to the anteroom and then into the Lodge room. The Lodge room is 35 feet long by 25 feet wide. Over the Master's chair is a copy of the Lodge banner in a glass case. Coloured cathedral glass adorns the staircase.
Bedford Lodge, Pym Street, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0AW