The Temple To Freemasonry St Edmunds Masonic Church

"FIRST TO APPEAR WAS THE PENTAGONAL BRONZE STAR OF THE WEATHERVANE THAT LEFT NO DOUBT AT ALL THAT THIS WAS AN UNUSUAL CHURCH. PRESENTLY, THE STAR HAS BEEN REMOVED. NOTING THAT FOR MANY, A PENTAGRAM HAS SATANIST CONNOTATIONS, HAVING A CHURCH CROWNED BY ONE, MIGHT HAVE POSED SOME QUESTIONS. THESE DOUBTS MIGHT NOT HAVE GONE AWAY WHEN PEOPLE SAW HOW THE STONE FINIALS ON THE GABLES WERE CROWNED BY EVEN MORE PENTAGRAMS AND OTHER ENIGMATIC DESIGNS: THE FIVE POINTED EMBLEM OF THE CRAFT IS THERE; THE SIX POINTED STAR OF THE ROYAL ARCH; THE SQUARE CROSSES OF THE CHRISTIAN DEGREES, ETC. ALL OF THEM LEAVE THE CASUAL PASSER-BY WITH THE DISTINCT IMPRESSION THAT THIS CHURCH IS UNLIKE MOST - IF ANY OTHER."

By Philip Coppens

St Edmund's Masonic Church

St. Edmund's Church, off Falinge Road in Rochdale - now largely seen as a suburb of Manchester - might lay claim to being Britain's greatest Masonic secret. Alas, unlike Rosslyn Chapel, it is unlikely to feature in Dan Brown's The Solomon Key, where the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code tackles Freemasonry, taking us no doubt from one "Masonic monument" to the next.

Though Rosslyn Chapel, the star of The Da Vinci Code, is often seen as a Masonic church, in truth, only certain modifications from the late 19th century contain some references to the Craft. St Edmund's, however, was built by Freemasons, and apparently for Masons, not so much as a church, but as a Temple of Solomon.

Many Rochdale churches from the 19th century have Masonic symbolism, such as Christchurch in Healey, but none can compare to St Edmund's. The church was designed by James Medland Taylor, with input from Albert Hudson Royds, sponsor and Freemason, and the fist incumbent, E.W. Gilbert, artist and Freemason. The church has been described as "probably James Medland Taylor's finest work."

The foundation stone was laid in 1870, in the northeast corner of the building - as Masonic ritual stipulates. The lewis bolt with which the stone was suspended and the working tools with which it was proved, were subsequently handed over to St Chad's Lodge, No. 1129, in Rochdale.

"ST EDMUND'S IS A TEMPLE OF SOLOMON MASKING AS A CHURCH..."

The church was opened on May 7, 1873, with various Masonic ceremonies held. The cost of its construction is known to have been at least lb28,000, whereas the cost of a "normal church" in those days was roughly lb4000. No wonder therefore that Sir Nikolaus Pevsner catalogues the church as "Rochdale's temple to Freemasonry, a total concept as exotic as Roslin Chapel in Scotland."

Pevsner added that "Almost every fitting and feature has reference to the Lore of masonry." The Masonic design of this church begins with its placement within the landscape. It stands on a diamond-shaped churchyard, the focus of four streets, at the highest point of the town. Like King Solomon's Temple on the top of Mount Moriah, so St Edmund's dominates the skyline of Rochdale. But apart from Masonic planning, the church was also built with intervisibility between the church and Mount Falinge (the Royds family home nearby) in mind.....

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