Origins of the Lodge of Faith & Hope No 4772

The Lodge of Faith & Hope No 4772 was consecrated on November 17th 1925, at the Masonic Hall in New Street by the then Provincial Grand Master, R W Bro Colonel W F Wyley, who was later to become Sir William Wyley.

Sadly, the first Minute Book and Tyler’s Register were lost, it is believed in the course of one of the moves from the former sites of either Broad Street or Francis Road.  This means that the Lodge record of the Consecration and first meetings are not available to provide a fuller picture of the early days of the Lodge.

However, as can be seen from the Banner, the centre-piece is a Phoenix, rising from its funeral pyre, and it is assumed that this was chosen to mark the re-emergence of the Craft in Warwickshire following the First World War.  Most of the Founders of the Lodge were members of the Lodge of Charity, our Mother Lodge, with whom we still have close links and who are strongly represented at this meeting.  At that time, the Lodge of Charity had many members and it was decided that a new Lodge should be created to allow members to progress at a better rate.  There were 15 Founders of the Lodge, of whom only 5 were Past Masters.  13 of the Founders were members of the Lodge of Charity, one from Noah’s Ark Lodge and one from Masefield Lodge.  The first Master of the Lodge was W Bro Alfred Grove, who was an Architect, and had been Master of the Lodge of Charity in 1922. 

W Bro James Pratt, one of the Founders, and Master of the Lodge of Charity in 1909, presented the Lodge Banner by which he will always be remembered, as there is a commemorative tribute on the reverse of the Banner.  Sadly W Bro Pratt, who held the unusual rank of Past Provincial Grand Pursuivant, died just four days after the Consecration.  

To enlarge a little upon the centre-piece of the Banner, the phoenix is said to live for 500 years. When it grows tired, it builds a nest of aromatic twigs, and then sets fire to itself to be consumed in the funeral pyre of its own making. After three days, the phoenix would arise from the ashes, reborn. According to Egyptian legend, it carries the embalmed ashes of its previous incarnation to Heliopolis, the city of the sun. The Egyptian phoenix was said to sing sweetly, and to dazzle with its plumage of gold and scarlet and purple.
Tales of the phoenix appear in ancient Arabian, Greek, Roman, and Far Eastern mythology. In both Greek and Egyptian tales, the phoenix represented the sun, dying in flames at the end of the day and rising again each morning. Early Christians came to view the flight of the phoenix as a symbol of rebirth and the resurrection, leaving the old world for the new world of the spirit, dying and rising again, reborn. It symbolized the victory of life over death, immortality, and Christ's resurrection. Jewish legend describes the phoenix as the one creature that did not leave paradise with Adam, and that its legendary longevity is due to abstaining from the forbidden fruit that tempted the 'first man'. On Roman coins, the phoenix represented an undying empire.
According to Chinese mythology, the phoenix is the symbol of grace and virtue and is second only in importance to the Dragon. It represents the union of yin and yang, and was a gentle creature associated with the Empress, who alone could wear its symbol. The feathers of the Chinese phoenix were black, white, red, green and yellow - the five primary colours. In Japan, the phoenix is found carved into sword hilts, and the image of the bird is seen as embroidery on kimonos. Along with the sun, the phoenix is one of the emblems of the Japanese Empire.
The representation on the Banner is both a fitting Masonic allegory and a symbol of the Faith in the past and Hope for the future that must have presented itself to our founders after seeing the world rise from the ashes of conflagration.
Although the Lodge membership is not as great as it has been in the past, the members are determined that the Lodge will continue from strength to strength and this refurbished banner will be an inspiration for the Lodge for the future, and will enable the theme of the Lodge to continue :–