Former Masonic Hall, 166-168 High Street, Margate, Kent

Summary

Former Freemason’s Hall built around 1873. In commercial use from around 1895 and converted to flats in 2017.

Description

Former Freemason’s Hall built around 1873. In commercial use from around 1895 and converted to flats in 2017.

MATERIALS: yellow stock brick laid in Flemish bond with a stuccoed principal elevation. Timber sash windows. Renewed slate-covered hipped roof (gabled to the rear range).

PLAN: the main range was originally of two-storeys plus basement with a double-height first floor. The original internal layout is unclear as the plan-form was lost following later refurbishment. In the late-C20 the first floor was divided to create a second floor. To the rear is an off-centre rear range of four-storeys where the land slopes away to the west. In 2017 the interior was divided to create seven flats with one in the basement and two on each of the other floors, set either side of a new central staircase. The interior is not of special interest.

EXTERIOR: the ground floor glazed shopfront* and entrances* to the flats introduced in 2017 are not of special interest but the original dentil cornice with decorative end brackets are.
Above, the stuccoed principal (east) elevation onto the High Street is of three bays with three large three-over-six replacement timber sash windows set between pilasters with Corinthian capitals and decorative panels to the original first floor. The central window has a triangular pediment with the outer ones having segmental pediments. Beneath the windows are narrow decorative panels. Above a dentil cornice terminating in antefix bearing a Rococo cartouche, the raised central panel of the parapet bears the legend ‘MASONIC HALL.’ in incised lettering.

The rear (west) elevation has one-over-one, mostly replacement, timber sash windows in the original segmental arched openings (except those on the third floor which were inserted in square-headed opening in 2017). These are arranged with a single row on the north side of the rear range and two rows on the south side. The west elevation of the rear range is blind but the returns have pairs of narrow one-over-one sashes to each floor.

INTERIOR: the interior* dates entirely to the 2017 conversion with internal divisions, stairs and fittings. There is no evidence of surviving historic features and the interior is not of special interest.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the whole interior of the building and the 2017 ground floor shopfront (i.e. excluding the C19 dentil cornice and brackets) are not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.

History

Freemasonry has had a presence in Kent since at least the early C18 with a tradition of military lodges connected to the garrisons and naval dockyards at towns such as Dover, Chatham and Sheerness as well as civilian lodges. The civilian Union Lodge (from 1863 numbered as Lodge 127) of the Freemasons was founded in Spitalfields, London on 7 November 1763, probably largely by silk weavers. Originally meetings were held in a number of public houses around Spitalfields. The Lodge had lapsed by 1811, probably due to population changes partly resulting from a drop in the demand for silk, but it was reformed two years later in the sea bathing resort of Margate. The first meeting was held on 10 March 1813 at the Duke’s Head on the Parade and continued be held at various public houses, hotels and bathing rooms in the town until a purpose-built Freemason’s Hall was constructed at what was then 97 High Street around 1873-1875. It is clearly shown on the 1873 1:528 scale Ordnance Survey town plan, occupying the footprint of the current building. Meetings were held on the new premises from 7 May 1875 until 13 January 1892, after which the Lodge moved briefly to a temporary home at the King’s Head Hotel, High Street, before occupying the current Masonic Temple at New Cross Street from 1895.

The main ceremonial space, the lodge room, along with the other two rooms typical of Masonic lodges, the robing room and dining room, would have occupied the first floor, with the ground floor possibly occupied by rented commercial premises.

Following the departure of the Freemasons, the building has had various commercial uses. The 1924 street directory shows that 168 High Street was occupied by Kirby Brothers, clothiers and prior to the early 1950s it was in use as a church hall. During the 1950s and 1960s it had various uses including as a furniture store, tailor's workshop and clothing factory. From 1973 the ground floor was in use as a garage/car showroom and the shopfront was replaced. The upper floors were still in use as a clothes facory. The shopfront was replaced again in 1980. Later uses included as a clothing shop again, offices and as a boxing gym and dance studio. Around 2001, a new aluminium-framed shopfront was introduced. In 2017, the building was converted into seven flats and another new 'shopfront' installed.

Reasons for Listing

166-168 High Street, Margate, originally built around 1873 as a Masonic hall, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for the imposing and skillful design of its façade with a richly, classically-detailed piano nobile;
* although altered, including the loss of its historic interior and the replacement of the shopfront present at the time of listing, the essential character and salient external fabric has been retained.

Historic interest:

* as evidence of the urban growth and gentility of Margate, one of the earliest English seaside resorts, in the later C19 and the increasing visibility and respectability of the Freemasons during the same period.

External Links

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