Gosport Masonic Hall
History & Management.
The original building, known as Clarence Hall, was purchased by Gosport Lodge No. 903 and The Prince of Wales Lodge No.1705 in 1918. It was just a hall in those days, the area which is now the Dining Room. It was purchased from The Plymouth Brethren for £900.
In the picture, the portion under the apex roof is the original hall, the part of the building under the flat roof to the left was added much later. In 1926 it was decided to increase the size of the premises with the addition of a Temple and associated rooms, (built to the rear of the property).
A sum of £6000 was required, which in those days was a considerable amount. A total of £3,825 was raised by the three Lodges in being at that time, namely Gosport Lodge No 903, Prince of Wales Lodge No1705 and St. Swithuns Lodge No 4795.
This was a staggering amount for three lodges to raise with several brethren contributing large donanations of over £1000 each with others taking on personal loans to meet the cost.
The balance was tackled with some difficulty over the years, and in 1929 the Temple was constructed. However as the finances and whole operation had increased in size and complexity, it was decided to form a limited company to operate the hall and manage its finances. Gosport Masonic Hall Ltd was formed which is the same company operating it today.
Additional adjacent property was purchased as it became available over the years but the financial position became burdensome. It was therefore decided to increase the Share Capital and Ordinanry Shares were sold to the individual lodges, which had now grown over the years to eight in number.
The hall had always hired out some of its facilities and provided a venue for local groups such as the disabled.
The building was maintained over the years but was only funded for the basic minimum of expenditure and an accumulation of defects and a gradual deterioration set in. It was decided in 2006 by all the brethren meeting at Gosport Masonic Hall to raise a sum of money over a period of five years to correct the problem, A Building Fund was therefore set up.
It was during the refurbishment program that the Masonic facilities were made physically separate in what was re-named The Masonic Centre and the social and dining area became formalised as The Clarence Suite. This produced the distinct advantage that the two facilities could operate independantly of each other and members of the general public who wished to hire the facilities could do so in a totally social atmosphere.
Management
The ownership of Gosport Masonic Hall Ltd (GMHL) is via shares held by the eight Craft Lodges meeting at Gosport. The management has a Main Board of Directors comprising one Director from each of the eight Lodges and four appointed Director posts including the Chairman, Treasurer and Social Director.
The Main Board has three sub-groups:
The Building & Maintenance Sub-Group
The Finance & Administration Sub-Group
The Social Committee Sub-Group
There are regular Main and Sub-group Board Meetings and an Annual General Meeting is held each year in October.
The Mission Statement of GMHL is as follows:-
'To provide well maintained premises for Masonic activities in Gosport and to promote appropriate fund raising to assist Lodges in their economic and charitable functions.'
Gosport Masonic Hall is now in good order and in another 100 years time it is hoped that future masons will feel that brethren at the beginning of the 21st century played their part to continue the financial efforts of their forebears at the beginning of the 20th century.
