Beacon Lodge was born out of the success of Freemasonry in general between the First and Second World Wars. It was a spin-off (daughter lodge) of the Howe and Charnwood Lodge No 1007, which had outgrown its ability to cope with demand for membership and still flourishes today as the oldest lodge in Loughborough.
But this was not the first Masonic lodge in the town. That honour went to the Rancliffe Lodge No.608, which had been consecrated on March 13th 1835 at a Provincial Grand Lodge held for that purpose at the King's Head Hotel (now the Ramada in the High Street). However this first lodge was singularly unsuccessful, becoming essentially defunct in 1839 and its name was finally erased from the Roll of United Grand Lodge in 1853.
Only a few years later there was a revival of Freemasonry in Loughborough and by 1864 there was enough interest to form Howe & Charnwood Lodge, which was consecrated at the Bull's Head, also in the High Street. The lodge continued to meet there, paying 25 shillings for each meeting, until 1900 when mutual dissatisfaction between the landlady, Mrs.Widnall, and the brethren, which had been causing problems, finally came to a head. The lodge sought a Dispensation to hold their Installation meeting on November 27th at the Town Hall. This arrangement was regularized at a subsequent meeting and thus began a long association with the Town Hall that continued into the early years of the Beacon Lodge.
