Local Freemasons joined together with the Town Mayor of Barnstaple to formally present the Britton Windows to the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon today.
Councillor Janet Coates, Town Mayor of Barnstaple, was pleased to receive the windows which would be on permanent display in the Museum. Cllr Coates was joined by the Lady Mayoress, Miss Gwen Thomas, as well as the Museum Manager, Alison Mills. The event was organised by Loyal Lodge No. 251, based in Barnstaple, and especially by their secretary W Bro Keith Lobb. He was joined by members of Loyal Lodge
including the current Worshipful Master, W Bro Jim Pilkington, as well as lodge curator W Bro Roger Moore, past master W Bro Doug Boothroyd and many other members of the lodge. The Province of Devonshire was represented by RW Bro Ian Kingsbury, the Past Provincial Grand Master of Devonshire.
We were pleased to welcome to Barnstaple Sir David Wootton. Sir David joined us in 2 capacities. Firstly, he is the Past Deputy Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, the main governing body of Freemasonry for men in England and Wales. Sir David is also a prominent member of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Glass Painters, one of the ancient livery companies in the City of London.
The Britton Windows are named after Mr John Thomas Britton. John was born in 1790 in Bishops Tawton, near to Barnstaple. He was a supporter of Loyal Lodge, joining it in 1828 and becoming Master
of the lodge in 1839. He supported both Freemasonry and the local community until his death in 1855.
Loyal Lodge sought to celebrate his life and settled on the idea of these windows, to be placed in the South Window of St Mary Magdalene Church in Barnstaple, which John had regularly worshiped at.
Sadly, the church was demolished in 1981 due to construction of a new road and, as part of their ongoing salvaging of stained-glass windows, the windows came under the stewardship of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Window Painters. They remained there for over 30 years until they were noticed again
and the link to Freemasonry in the windows was investigated. Sir David quickly made the connection between the windows and Loyal Lodge, before offering to reunite the windows with Barnstaple once more.
In 2017, members of Loyal Lodge including Roger and Doug drove to London to collect the windows, and work began on the conservation work of the windows. In 2019 the windows were presented to the lodge, and work was done for them to be displayed in the museum.
Sadly, the official presentation of the windows was delayed due to Covid but the windows have taken pride of place at the top of the grand staircase of the Museum since then. Recently, Loyal Lodge have restarted efforts for this event with the support of their secretary, Keith, who was able to arrange for all parties to come together again and it is only today that they have been formally presented to the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon.
During their remarks at the event, both Ian Kingsbury and Sir David Wootton said how glad they were that such an important piece of Masonic History in Barnstaple was being displayed for the public in this way. Organised Freemasonry has existed since 1717, when the first Grand Lodge was formed in London. For over 300 years, Freemasons have worked to support their local community and to live by the four
values of the order: Integrity, Friendship, Respect and Service.
Author: Brother Philip Mason, Provincial Grand Communications Officer