Mundy Grove Lodge
About Us
This page has been created to give an overview of what we consider to be the proud and unique the history of our Lodge.
Lodge History
Mundy Grove is the oldest Lodge that meets at Long Eaton and the third oldest in the Province of Derbyshire and which, since the Lodge’s formation, has produced one of the most interesting and unusual masonic histories.
Mundy Grove held its first meeting, under authorisation (dispensation) of Grand Lodge on 28th September 1844, and then by Warrant from Grand Lodge on the 28th December 1844. The meeting place was the Boat Inn public house, Shipley Gate, near Ilkeston situated 200 yards South of the river Erewash and which was the county boundary between Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire. The Boat Inn proved to be a permanent home for Mundy Grove for the next 111 years.
The mother Lodge of Mundy Grove is Newstead Lodge (No.47) in the Province of Nottinghamshire and it was the strong desire of like-minded Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire masons to form a Lodge near to the town of Eastwood which resulted in the formation of Mundy Grove. On the 21st January 1845 the first Worshipful Master was installed, William Wynn, who was a past master of Newstead Lodge, thus cementing the unique masonic association between two different Provinces.
The name of Mundy Grove was primarily derived from the Miller Mundy family, who were one of the major coal producers in the East Midlands and resided at Shipley Hall on Shipley Park Estate, where their two coalmines were situated. During the 1840’s, the then owner, Edward Miller Mundy, a Member of Parliament, campaigned for fairer treatment for the working classes. Although never recognised as a mason himself, Edward Miller Mundy did provide support to the formation of Mundy Grove, which met in very close proximity to Shipley Park. Many of the early members that were introduced to the Lodge were mineworkers, mine managers, surface workers and engineers from Mundy’s estate, which along with carpenters, wheelwrights, labourers, brewers and many other craftsmen that joined Mundy Grove from a strong region of the 19th century industrial revolution, proved another factor in Mundy Grove’s uniqueness at that time – that it was a lodge open to all sections of Society including the working man.
Eventually leaving Shipley Gate, the Lodge moved to the Rutland Hotel in Ilkeston, where meetings were held until the closure of the hotel in the late 1970’s. following which the Lodge moved to the Masonic Hall at Long Eaton, where it still meets to the present day.