Survey Data
Reg No
40823076
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Previous Name
Masonic Lodge 407
Original Use
Masonic lodge/hall
In Use As
Masonic lodge/hall
Date
1810 - 1870
Coordinates
222882, 421071
Date Recorded
01/07/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey Masonic lodge\hall with attic storey, built c. 1820 and altered c. 1860, having single-storey outbuilding attached to the north gable end. Possibly originally a dwelling later converted for use as a Masonic lodge\hall. Pitched natural slate roof with blue-black clay ridge tiles, three slate-hung chimneystacks (one to either gable end and one offset to the south side of centre), roughcast rendered corbelled eaves course to, decorative wavy timber bargeboards to gable ends (north and south), and surviving sections of cast-iron rainwater goods (replacement to rear).. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth (to front). Cut stone plaque (on rectangular-plan) over central doorway to front elevation having Masonic square and divider motifs. Square-headed window openings having smooth rendered reveals, painted stone sills, and with two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed window openings to the gable ends at attic level having fixed-pane timber windows. Central segmental-headed doorway to the front elevation (west) having smooth rendered reveals, plinth blocks, replacement timber panelled door, and with plain overlight. Rear elevation altered having square-headed doorways with replacement timber doors accessed by flights of cement rendered steps. Three-bay single-storey outbuilding attached to the north gable end having mono-pitched natural slate roof, roughcast rendered rubble stone walls over smooth rendered plinth course (exposed to the rear and to the north elevation), square-headed window openings to the east elevation (now boarded), square-headed doorway to the east elevation with battened timber door, and square-headed doorway to the north gable end having reused timber panelled door with bolection mouldings. Set back from road in sunken site to the south\south-east of the centre of Ramelton. Gravelled area to the front of site (west) and field to the rear (east). Rubble stone boundary wall (on curvilinear-plan) to the road-fronted to the east. Pedestrian gateway to the west comprising a pair of rendered squared rubble stone gate piers (on square-plan) having pyramidal coping over, and with hooped wrought-iron gate with cast-iron fleur-de-lys finials; flight of cement rendered steps with flanking wrought-iron guards leading from gateway to doorway.
Appraisal
This well-maintained building, of early nineteenth-century appearance, retains its early form and character despite. Its visual appeal and integrity are enhanced by the retention of salient fabric such as the timber sliding sash windows and the natural slate roof. Modest decorative interest is added by the wavy timber bargeboards to the gable ends and by the plaque with Masonic square and divider motifs. Although in use as a Masonic lodge\hall by c. 1900, the form of this building is decidedly domestic for a building of this type. This suggests that it was originally built as a private dwelling during the early decades of the nineteenth century (depicted on Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map of c. 1834) and later converted for use as a Masonic lodge by the time of the Ordnance Survey twenty-five inch map of the town c. 1904. The only evidence of its current function is the discreet plaque over the front entrance. There was a Masonic lodge at Ramelton by 1812 (although the official warrant was transferred to Ramelton in 1808) but the location of same is not clear. It is Lodge Number 407. This building is an integral element of the built heritage of Ramelton and, as a Masonic lodge\hall, it is an element of the social history of the local area. The simple outbuilding to the north, added c. 1900, and the simple but appealing gateway with hooped wrought-iron railings, adds to the setting and context.