What is Freemasonry?
History, values, and what actually happens. From a lodge that has been practising it for over a century.
Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest and largest fraternal organisations. There are around six million Freemasons worldwide, and over 200,000 in England and Wales alone.
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation. Its members are of many faiths and none. It has no involvement in politics. Its traditions are private, not its existence: men meeting in friendship, following a shared moral code, and giving back to their communities.
An introduction from the United Grand Lodge of England
Core principles
Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth
Brotherly Love
Freemasons regard all people with tolerance, respect, and kindness. The lodge is a place where that practice begins: men of different backgrounds, beliefs, and professions meeting as equals.
Relief
A commitment to charitable giving and to helping those in need. Freemasons in England and Wales give over £50 million to charitable causes every year, supporting hospitals, hospices, education, and community projects across the country.
Truth
A high standard of moral behaviour, in the lodge and outside it. Freemasons are expected to be honest in their dealings, reliable in their commitments, and accountable for their actions.
These three principles are not aspirations. They are expectations. Every Freemason takes an obligation to uphold them when he joins.
Craft Masonry
The Three Degrees
Every Freemason passes through three degrees. Each is conferred by ceremony: a combination of ritual, symbol, and obligation that has remained largely unchanged for centuries.
The First Degree marks a man's entry into Freemasonry. The ceremony of Initiation admits him as an Entered Apprentice and introduces him to the principles and obligations of the Craft. He receives his first obligation and is entrusted with certain signs and words.
The ceremony of Passing advances a brother from the First to the Second Degree. Where the First Degree introduces the candidate to Freemasonry, the Second Degree focuses on the development of the individual: the pursuit of knowledge, the cultivation of the mind, and the application of learning to life.
The Third Degree is the highest degree of Craft Masonry. The ceremony of Raising brings a brother to the full status of a Master Mason and introduces him to one of Freemasonry's most solemn and significant lessons. Many Freemasons regard it as the most moving ceremony in the Craft.
The governing body
The United Grand Lodge of England
Founded in 1717, the United Grand Lodge of England is the oldest and largest Grand Lodge in the world. It regulates Freemasonry in England and Wales, sets standards for ritual and conduct, and represents English Freemasonry internationally.
St Winnold Lodge No. 3955 is constituted under the UGLE and is also part of the Grand Province of Norfolk, the provincial body overseeing Masonic lodges across the county.
About Freemasonry
The UGLE's own introduction: history, principles, common questions.
ugle.org.uk →
Masonic Charitable Foundation
Where much of the charitable giving goes. Grants, care homes, education.
mcf.org.uk →
Grand Province of Norfolk
St Winnold Lodge is one of many lodges across Norfolk under the Province.
norfolkfreemasons.org.uk →
Women and Freemasonry
Freemasonry for women
St Winnold Lodge is constituted under the United Grand Lodge of England, which governs male-only Craft lodges in England and Wales.
Women who are interested in Freemasonry are served by two fully established Grand Lodges that work the same traditional Craft ritual and uphold the same principles of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth:
Order of Women Freemasons
Lodges across England and Wales, including in Norfolk.
owf.org.uk →
Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons
An independent Grand Lodge with lodges nationwide.
hfaf.org →
Both are long-established, independent, and thriving organisations. If you are a woman interested in Freemasonry, we would encourage you to explore both directly.
Charitable giving
Freemasonry and charity
Charitable giving is built into Freemasonry, not as an afterthought but as a core obligation. The principle of Relief means Freemasons are expected to support those in need, both within the brotherhood and in the wider community.
In England and Wales, Freemasons give over £50 million to charity every year. Much of this flows through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, supporting hospitals, hospices, education, and thousands of community causes.
See what St Winnold Lodge gives locally →St Winnold Lodge, season 2025/26
MCF Norfolk 2027 Festival
National Masonic charity festival
1st Downham Market Scout Group
New Squirrels section for ages 3 to 5
Eternity Church food bank
Emergency food parcels, Downham Market
Downham Market Boys Brigade
Youth organisation, equipment
Members also collected food donations at the December festive board. The raffle at every dinner goes to the Lodge Almoner for member welfare.
Our lodge
St Winnold Lodge No. 3955
St Winnold Lodge was warranted on 7th April 1919 and consecrated on 30th July 1919 at Downham Market Town Hall. Seven founding Masons, drawn from lodges in King's Lynn and Ely as well as local members, established what has become a fixture of the town's civic life.
We take our name from St Winnold, a sixth-century abbot who founded a priory at Wereham, three miles from Downham Market. We meet in our own hall, a former Baptist chapel the lodge has owned since 1953, on the third Thursday of the month from October to May.
We work Emulation Ritual, one of the most widely practised workings in English Craft Masonry: all three degrees conducted in full and performed from memory.
1919
Consecrated
3955
Lodge number
8
Meetings a year
Emulation
Ritual
Emulation Ritual
Emulation is the most widely worked Masonic ritual in England, performed from memory without prompting. The ritual is over two centuries old. Members of the lodge who take ritual roles rehearse regularly at the Lodge of Instruction to maintain the standard.
For visitors and new members, there is nothing to know or do. The ceremonies are witnessed, not tested. What strikes most people afterwards is how the formality created space for something genuine.
Interested in joining St Winnold Lodge?
We hold social evenings open to anyone curious about the lodge. Come and see what we are about.