History of Crane Lodge No. 2660
The Lodge was consecrated on the 7th July 1897 at a meeting held in the Vestry Hall, Cranbrook. FSW Cornwallis (later Lord Cornwallis) was the first Master of the Lodge, and the officers were principally members of the mother lodge, Weald of Kent Lodge No 1854. The first members included Cornwallis, described as a landowner of Linton Park, Maidstone, Henry Fincham the Cranbrook Workhouse Master, together with a solicitor, solicitors’ clerk, two corn factors, a hop factor and the proprietor of the Bull Hotel Benenden. W Bro Cornwallis was subsequently elevated to Provincial Grand Master of East Kent. He again took the Chair as Master of Crane Lodge in 1903 After the consecration, meetings were held at The George Hotel, Cranbrook for which members paid fees of 10 Guineas (£10.50) per annum.
The Lodge was consecrated on the 7th July 1897 at a meeting held in the Vestry Hall, Cranbrook. FSW Cornwallis (later Lord Cornwallis) was the first Master of the Lodge, and the officers were principally members of the mother lodge, Weald of Kent Lodge No 1854. The first members included Cornwallis, described as a landowner of Linton Park, Maidstone, Henry Fincham the Cranbrook Workhouse Master, together with a solicitor, solicitors’ clerk, two corn factors, a hop factor and the proprietor of the Bull Hotel Benenden. W Bro Cornwallis was subsequently elevated to Provincial Grand Master of East Kent. He again took the Chair as Master of Crane Lodge in 1903 After the consecration, meetings were held at The George Hotel, Cranbrook for which members paid fees of 10 Guineas (£10.50) per annum.
The lodge membership expanded rapidly; minutes of the third meeting record four Entered Apprentices passed to the second degree and five gentlemen Initiated all in 3hrs 20mins. One month later four Fellowcrafts were Raised and five Entered Apprentices Passed. In 1968, the members of the lodge negotiated the purchase of the Hartley Mission (also known as the Hop-pickers Chapel), offering £1750 for it. After purchase and the completion of an extension to the building, the first meeting was held on 11th January 1971.
In 1997 Crane Lodge was presented with a Centenary Warrant by Right Worshipful Brother John Bonomy OBE, The Provincial Grand Master for the Province of East Kent at that time. There is a photograph of this auspicious occasion which hangs in the “robing room” in the Temple Building. The Lodge celebrated its 125th Anniversary in 2022.
Whilst not having membership numbers similar to those in the early years, in recent times the Crane Lodge membership has grown and now boasts a good number of enthusiastic younger Freemasons which rightly gives confidence for the future of Crane Lodge.