Southgate Masonic Centre may be located in the north of the Province of Middlesex but the spirit of Masonry
is warm and active. The Centre is home to 160 Lodges of which 15 are from Middlesex, along with 5 Chapters.
They include Enfield Lodge, No.1237, which was established on 1st December 1868.

The remaining Lodges meeting at Southgate come from London and Hertfordshire. While in the minority,
Middlesex Lodges are proving that not only is small beautiful, it is also very active.

The Centre, a converted church hall, was opened in 1968.The Middlesex Lodges that joined had been meeting
in pubs and similar venues and warmly welcomed the opportunity to have their own Centre.

Currently there are four Lodge Rooms and three dining rooms, although the feasibility of building a new
dining room is under review. Throughout the nineties substantial refurbishment work was carried out to the
Lodge Rooms, dining rooms, bar and kitchens, while air conditioning and double glazing were also installed.
The facilities are also available for public events, such as wedding receptions and birthday parties,
provided there are Masonic sponsors.

The Centre President is John Jenkins. Clive Moules is the Chairman and David Salmon the Vice Chairman. The
Middlesex Lodges have their own Co-ordinating Committee, the Chairman of which is Peter Rider. He explains that
running a tight ship of just 15 Lodges has distinct advantages, particularly when it comes to communication. The
effectiveness of the Middlesex organisation at Southgate is evidenced by the donation of £7,850 for urgently needed
equipment for the intensive care unit at Chase Farm Hospital. The money, which was raised by collections among
members, was presented on 2nd October 2001 and was reported in the local press. The Co-ordinating Committee
is also hard at work planning their involvement in Freemasonry in the Community week.

The Centre is easy to get to so if you’re invited to a meeting there, do go along.

How it all began

In April 1963 a number of Middlesex Masons, some of them also members of London Lodges, set up a
company to provide a permanent Masonic centre in the north of the Province. The company, named the North
Middlesex Masonic Centre was incorporated with a share capital of two thousand £1 shares and any Lodge
wishing to join had to buy 100 shares.

The search for premises was hard, due to insufficient funds, so a further 48,000 £1 shares were issued. There was
still a general shortage of suitable premises, with many popular meeting places in and around Barnet closing
their doors to Freemasonry, causing problems for Lodges and Chapters in Hertfordshire and London as well
as Middlesex. In response to this, Grand Lodge gave a dispensation to broaden the five mile London rule,
declaring a neutral territory in which Masons from London, Hertfordshire and Essex could all
meet without any change of Province.

This ruling created a great surge of interest, promising more capital in the future and the search became more
vigorous. On 24th July the Chairman of the company signed a contract to purchase the premises at High
Street, Southgate for the sum of £43,500, but the story did not end there and a private loan of £26,750 had t
o be arranged before the title was finally filed on 7th March 1968. A resolution was passed changing
the company name to Southgate Masonic Centre Limited to express fully
its capacity of operating in neutral territory.