Septem Lodge No:7788 History
Lodge Origins
Members of the Military Jubilee Lodge No:2195, petitioned the United Grand Lodge of England during the period of 1960 to 1961 to form a new Lodge in Dover which they wanted to call Septem Lodge. Septem Lodge then became a daughter Lodge of Military Jubilee.
That name had already been used by the Septem Surbiton Lodge No:5887 in the Province of Surrey. The founding members of the proposed Septem Lodge Dover had to get permission before they could proceed to form the new Lodge. I am glad to say that it was granted and a new relationship was forged with the members of the two Lodges that has lasted over many years until Septem Surbiton unfortunately found themselves in the position of handing back their warrant to Grand Lodge. However, several members of Septem Surbiton were made honorary members of the Septem Dover Lodge after the closure and have now become full members of our Lodge.
The Septem Dover Lodge was consecrated on the 6th December 1961 at the Dover Town Hall. According to the Minute Book there were 33 Founding Members.
When the RW. Provincial Grand Master for Kent, the Rt. Hon the Lord Cornwallis, consecrated the Lodge, he said that the crest seemed to be an appropriate emblem for the Lodge, in the ‘front line’ of Dover; the compasses reminded him of Churchills ‘V’ for Victory sign and the two great pillars reminded him of the two lighthouses on either side of the valley.
Lodge Crest
Septem Lodge No: 7788, is a well established Lodge with over 50 years of history, with a diverse Lodge membership. The Lodge is based in the Dover Masonic Hall on Snargate Street, in Dover.
The Lodge Crest shown to the right, is designed with an emphasis on the number 7. It is set on a blue background with a sun shining over the 7 Seas. The base of the Crest is formed of wavy green lines on a blue background to represent the seven seas that were sailed by the mariners using the Port of Dover and the Lodge motto ‘Prudens Futuri’ meaning ‘Rest on the waves’ forms part of the centrepiece. The design uses masonic symbols to represent the Roman numeral for VII with an upturned compass representing the V and the two pillars representing the 2 one’s.
Lodge Banner
The Septem Banner is of a most unusual design, being calculated to place considerable emphasis on the number ‘7’, for which there were several reasons. Septem Lodge was the seventh Lodge to be formed in Dover and was called ‘Septem’ becuase that is the seventh month in the Roman Calender. The founders of the Lodge had hoped that the Lodge would be allotted the number 7777, but this proved to be unobtainable and they had to be content with 7788.
Brethren were invited to submit designs for the Lodge Banner and the one that was finally accepted was submitted by W.Bro S W Revell, who was the (first Secretary of the Lodge), and W.Bro S Horner, one of the prime movers in forming the Lodge. In May 1968, W.Bro J W Coddington (MBE) became the seventh Master and to mark the occasion, he commissioned and presented to the Lodge, a banner of the same design as the Crest. It was dedicated on the 11th June 1969. The design of the crest was traced out on blue satin fabric by Bro. A Todd, the seventh initiate. It was embroidered in gold and coloured silks by the Masters daughter, Mrs J Hunter.
At the top of the banner the name is shown in gold letters on a streamer of dark blue silk, edged with gold and the Lodge number is similarly shown along the bottom below the number, gold lettering records the date and place of consecration. More tracery ornaments the corners and edges of the banner, which has golden tassells hanging from the scalloped bottom edge.
Due to the age of the banner some of the colours have now faded as seen in the image to the left, but it is still recognisable today.
The Septem Lodge has had many traditions established over its history but there are two that stand out, first the Lodge has a tradition of Father and Son members, in the first 50 years of its history there were nine Father and Son members, commencing with E Ewens and E G C Ewens (both Founders of the Lodge), G Lock (Founder) and S Lock, S Wood (Founder), R Wood and S Wood, W Tressider and C Tressider, D Sharp and C Sharp, W Henson and C Henson, E Skelton and G Skelton, C balfour, T Balfour and P Balfour, finally W Jones and S Jones, second is the fact that there have been a number of ‘Double’ Ceremonies carried out throughout the whole of the Lodges History.