St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge No. 2063

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Membership of the Royal Arch Chapter is open to all those who have become full members of a Craft Lodge.

History Coronation Chapter No. 2063:

On January 20th, 1899, it was first mooted to form a Royal Arch Chapter attached to St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge, and that on January 17th, 1902, the necessary papers were signed in open Lodge to form the Coronation Chapter.

The Chapter was consecrated in the old Town Hall, Clacton-on-Sea, on May 29th, 1902, by the Grand Superintendent of the Province of Essex, His Honour Judge Philbrick, K.C., assisted by :-

E. Comp. Richard Clowes, P.G.Std.Br., P.P.G.H……….. as H.

E. Comp. John J. C. Turner, P.P.G.J. .. as J.

E. Comp. Thos. J. Railing, P.G.Swd.Br., Prov.G.S.E. …….. as S.E.

E. Comp. Jas. Berry, P.G.Asst.Soj. .. as S.N.

E. Comp. A. Lucking, P.A.G.D.C., Prov.G.D.C. …….. as D.C.

E. Comp. W. Hayman Cummings, P.G.O. as Organist.

E. Comp. F. J. Gecdly, P.P.G.P.Soj. .. as P.Soj.

In the course of the ceremony, the acting J., E. Comp John J. C. Turner, delivered a very thoughtful and practical Oration on The Nature and Principles of the Royal Arch Degree.

At the conclusion of the consecration ceremony, the Principals of the new Chapter were installed into their respective chairs by E. Comp. A. Lucking, Prov. G.D.C., as follows :-

M.E.Z. E. Comp. Claude E. Egerton Green, P.Z.51, P.P.G.H.

H. E. Comp. Walter Firmin Reed, J.51.

J. E. Comp. George Gardiner, S.N.51.

The officers of the Chapter were invested by the new M.E.Z. as under :-

Scribe E. .. E. Comp. E. Frayling.

Scribe N. . . Comp. J. W. Franks.

Treasurer .. Gomp. A. R. Ghamberlayne.

P.SoJ…..Comp. S. J. Sparling.

1st Asst. Soj. Comp. F. Chapman.

2nd Asst. Soj. Comp. F. E. Crate.

D C…..E. Comp. J. T. Bailey, P.Z.51, P.P.G.R.

Janitor .. Comp. F. Quilter.

E. Comp. A. S. B. Sparling, P.Z.51, P.P.G.S.N., was invested as I.P.Z.

On behalf of the founders, the M.E.Z. presented the Grand Superintendent with a jewel commemorative of the event, and, at the same time, thanked him for having come all the way from Somersetshire to conduct the proceedings.

The founders of the Chapter were :

E. Comp. Claude E. Egerton Green, P.Z.51, P.P.G.H.

Comp. Frank Chapman, Chapter 51.

Royal Arch Regulations http://www.supremegrandchapter.org.uk/about-supreme-grand-chapter/royal-arch-regulations

See Past Master

History of St. Osyth’s Prioy

The first fifty year History

ABBEY OR PRIORY OF ST. OSYTH.

Back in the 7th Century we first find records of this place as part of the possessions of Sigherc, King of Essex ; it is called in the records Clce, Chich, Clca, Cicce, Clta, Clhc, Ciz, and later St. Osith. Wynkyn de Worde printed in 1516 the 14 Nova Legcnda Angliae ; ” in this work Capgravc gave the life of St. Osyth of which the following is a precis.

St. Osyth, or Osgith, was the daughter of Frithuwald, King of Surrey as tributary of the King of the Mercians ; that he was a Christian is proved by his part in founding and endowing Chertsey Abbey (A.D. 666) and Wllburga, daughter of Penda, King of Mcrcia, she was born at Quarendon in Aylesbury, and brought up by her aunt at Elesborough, 3 miles from Aylesbury. She made a vow of virginity and many miraculous events are recorded of her life here but her father compelled her to marry Sighere ; however, the marriage was never consummated as immediately after the wedding the King was enticed forth to the chase by the appearance of a splendid white Stag before the doors of the palace. She fled with her maids and took the veil ; he at last forgave her and gave her his village of Chich, where she founded a Church to the honour of St. Peter and St. Paul and instituted a nunnery of the order of the Holy Trinity. In or about the year 665 a party of Danish Pirates under Inguar and Hubha sailed up the Colne, spoiled the village and monastery of St. Osyth. After trying their utmost to make her worship their idols and after persistent refusals, they struck off her head. Under angelic guidance, she walked with her head in her hands to the Church built near the Nunnery, knocked at the door with her blood stained hands, and then fell dead, and according to the legend, a fountain of clear water gushed forth from where she fell. The reputed site of the Nunnery is in the  ‘Nun’s Wood’  in the N.W. corner of the Priory Park. The traditional spring is still running and near it are the ruins of a little early 14th Century building which was probably the conduit house connected with supplying water to the Monastery. Her body was removed to Aylesbury for 46 years for fear of the Danes, and was then brought back in consequence of a vision by a tradesman of that town. (Recorded in Leland’s Itinerary Vol. VIII.). Many miraculous cures are recorded of pilgrims to her tomb and also of punishments to various people who disbelieved or who had desecrated the Church or the Abbey. Her festival was on the 7th of October

THE HISTORY OF THE PRIORY.

After the destruction of the Nunnery by the Danes, the parish reverted to the Crown. King Canute granted It to Godwin, Earl of Kent; he gave it to Christ’s Church in Canterbury by licence of Edward the Confessor. It was taken from this Church at the Conquest and at the time of the Survey belonged to the Bishops of London. The rest of the lands which before the Conquest belonged to one Edward and to Siwcard were held at the Survey by Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, Ralph Pcverell and his under tenant, Turold ; these lands and the Bishop’s afterwards formed a large part of the Endowment of the Priory.

In the reign of Henry I, Richard de Bclmeis (de Beaumels or Beauvays), Bishop of London, who was consecrated 1108, obtained it from the Church of St. Paul, London, giving in exchange lands in Sussex and Southminster, and built a religious house of regular Canons of St. Augustine in honour of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and also of St. Osyth. Thus the Priory was founded. The original endowment was speedily increased by various grants and before the end of the 12th Century, the Priory was one of the wealthiest religious houses in the Kingdom. Under their charters the Canons of St. Osyth were empowered to apprehend, try, and punish thieves and other malefactors in their domains ; they held a market of their own for some centuries as is shown in 1317 by the Presentments at Colchester Edward II. (10), also the privilege of hunting in their woods without molestation of King’s foresters, and were free of almost all suits, services and Taxes ; so that before the dissolution the neighbourhood for miles round was dominated by the Priory of St. Osyth.

On the 9th July, 1534, John Colchester or Withcrick, with the Prior, and 17 Canons subscribed to the King’s supremacy. For this submission they were all rewarded with pensions for life. Abbott Colchester £100 and the rest smaller sums.

The King’s Commissioners for receiving possession of the Priory and its goods were Sir John St. Clair of St. Clair Hall, St. Osyth, Sir William Purton, John Peteynes (Clerk), Thos. Mildmay, and Francis Jobson. Sir Thomas Audley, then Lord Chancellor, endeavoured to obtain possession of the Abbey and its lands but Thos. Cromwell obtained it for himself; after his execution it reverted to the Crown. Henry VIII appointed Sir Thos. Darcy keeper of the Priory, etc., during his lifetime. Edward VI settled it on Princess Mary, afterwards Queen Mary. Sir Thos. Darcy who had been created Baron Darcy of Chich desired it, and on 1st June, 1553, the King granted the Princess other estates and sold it to him for £3,974 9s. 4d. The 3rd Lord Darcy was made Viscount Colchester by James I, and Earl Rivers by Charles I. His son died in 1613 without heir, but the Estates were allowed to pass to the Savages of Rocksavagc in the County of Chester through the marriage of Elizabeth, his eldest daughter to Sir Thos. Savage. In 1639 this said daughter came into possession of the Priory; in 1641 the King created her Countess Rivers. In 1642 during the Commonwealth, she being a Royalist, the mob sacked the Priory.

At the Installation meeting held on Friday, October 18th, 1918, an interesting link was formed again with St. Osyth’s Priory when W. Bro. A. E. Cowley, M.A.. D.Litt., P.G.D., the then owner of St. Osyth’s Priory was unanimously elected an honorary member of the Lodge.

Sir John H. Johnson purchased it from Mr W. F. Nassau in 1857, and sold it in 1920 to Bri. Gen. Kincaid-Smith

See Past Master

The first fifty year History

Coronation Chapter No. 2063

The first fifty year history of St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge No. 2063

Some time prior to November 1884 several brethren had felt that It was desirable that a Lodge should be formed at Clacton-on-Sea, and with the aid of some of the brethren from Arnold Lodge. No. 1799, at Walton-on-Naze, a petition was prepared and recommended in 1884. As a result, The St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge was consecrated on Tuesday, November 11th. 1884 in the Public Hall (was then part of Messrs. F. W. Lewellen and Co. premises) Pier Avenue. Clacton-on-Sca. Read More

A petition for the formation of another Craft Lodge to be known as the “Colvin Lodge” to meet at the Royal Hotel, Clacton-on-Sea, was signed in open Lodge on March 18th, 1932, by the W. Master, W. Bro. Dr. R. Jenner-Clarke, and his Wardens, Bros. H. W. Learoyd and H. G. Griggs, on the proposition of Bro. Commdr. H. J. Waller, seconded by W. Bro. H. W. Eldred. This was the second occasion on which a petition had been signed in St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge for the formation of a Craft Lodge in Clacton-on-Sea.

At the installation meeting held in October, 1931, W. Bro. P. J. Green retired from the secretaryship of the Lodge after 24 years service, owing to failing health. At the 48th Installation meeting held on October 21st, 1932, W. Bro. H. W. Learoyd, the new Master, appointed as his Junior Warden, Bro. Brig.-Gen. K. J. Kincaid-Smith, an office that he held for two years, until his installation as W.M. in October, 1934. The Rt. W. Prov. Grand Master, Brig.-Gen. Sir Richard B. Colvin, K.C.B., Lord Lieutenant for Essex, attended this latter meeting, and, after the Lodge had been opened in the second degree by W. Bro. J. W. Privett (the outgoing master) accepted the gavel and installed Bro. Brig. Gen. Kincaid-Smith into the Chair of K.S. according to ancient custom before a large number of brethren from the surrounding Lodge – no less than 42 Past Masters being present. Truly a fitting beginning for a new Master of the Lodge in its Jubilee year.

The first member of the Lodge to receive Grand Lodge honours was W. Bro. S. Wheeler, who was appointed P. Grand Std. Br. on April 15th, 1932. He was initiated in St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge on Friday, January 20th, 1905, by W. Bro. Dr. W. G. Murray, having previously been proposed by Bro. H. Weatherhead and seconded by Bro. A. P. V. Sansom. He received his first collar as a steward of the Lodge in 1907 and was installed as master in 1913. He was elected treasurer of the Lodge in 1925. In 1920 he was appointed secretary of Southcliff Lodge, No. 4230. He was exalted into Royal Arch Masonry in Coronation Chapter.

The R.W. Provincial Grand Master, Col. the Rt. Hon. Mark Lockwood, P.C., C.V.O., M.P., laid the Chief Corner Stone of the new Church of St. James’, Clacton-on-Sea, with full Masonic ceremony on November 5th, 1912, an especial Provincial Grand Lodge being holden for that purpose at the Winter Gardens. After lunch the Provincial Grand Lodge was opened, and the procession proceeded to the site in full Masonic regalia. The stone was duly laid by the Rt. Wor. Provincial Grand Master in the presence of a large number of brethren. On this occasion, St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge presented a Volume of the Sacred Law to Bro. the Rev. L. Butler for the use of the new Church. In February, 1914, the Lodge passed a resolution in the following terms :” That in future the Lodge hold eight meetings in the year, viz. the third Friday in January. February, March, April, May, June, October and November.

The Installation meeting to be held on the third Friday in October Instead of September.” (We have since added December and dropped May, June.) Twenty Guineas was voted to the Prince of Wales’ National Relief Fund to relieve acute distress caused through the Great War at a meeting of the Lodge held on October 16th, 1914. Banquets were deferred on this and subsequent Lodge nights as a consequence of the war.

See Past Master

History of St. Osyth’s Prioy

Coronation Chapter No. 2063