Selby Masonic Hall

Summary

A pair of late C18 town houses, now a Masonic hall, altered in the C20.

History

Selby as a settlement dates to the Anglo-Saxon period, when it was known as Seletun (old Scandinavian for ‘sallow tree settlement’) and was referred by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of AD 779. A charter of about 1030 called it Seleby and about 1050 it was Selbi. King Henry I was born in Selby in 1068 and, a year later, Benedict, a French monk from Auxerre, obtained permission from King William to establish an Abbey. The Market Place has existed since the early C14. By the C15, Selby had developed thriving trade links along the East Coast and with the Low Countries. Selby Abbey succumbed to dissolution in 1539, and the core of the building became the parish church in 1618.

Selby’s commercial importance grew dramatically following the opening of the Selby Canal in 1778, becoming a notable inland port; however, after the building of Goole Docks in 1826, it suffered a very rapid decline. The town’s fortunes recovered in 1834, with the opening of the Leeds and Selby Railway, and by the early C20, witnessed a growth in several industries served by the railways and river traffic, including: flour milling, malting, oilseed milling and cattle feed production. In 1983, coal production commenced from the Selby Coalfield. Shipbuilding ended ten years later, and coal mining ceased in 2004. Since then, there has been a gradual reduction in the traditional industries, although some remain.

Church Hill forms a small open square that would once have been occupied by traders’ stalls, and connects the historic riverfront of Selby with the Abbey Church and the town centre. It overlays the site of the former medieval parish church of St Germain and its associated churchyard. The Masonic Hall was originally built as a semi-detached pair of late C18 town houses, with parallel service ranges and small yards to the rear. By the latter half of the C19, number 27 had become a temperance hotel called Knotts Hotel. It was sold after the turn of the C20 to become a Masonic Hall on the consecration of the new Lodge of St Germain by Lord Bolton, Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Yorkshire North and East Ridings, on the 11 October 1906. The attendance of the Lodge became depleted during the First World War; however, in the following years, the attendance increased to such an extent that in May 1921, a decision was taken to lease the adjoining number 25 Church Hill, and extend the Lodge at a cost of £350. The freehold of this house was bought outright in 1933. During the Second World War the building was occupied by the military, but the Lodge continued to hold meetings. The building was listed in 1952. The internal layout of the two inter-connected buildings have been altered, including the building of a new bar and infilling the yards to the rear in 1988. By that time, the yards to the rear had been reduced in size as part of the redevelopment of the adjacent land to build a new town library and flats.

Details

A pair of late C18 town houses, altered in the C20 for use as a Masonic Hall.

MATERIALS: yellow brick, rendered to the front of number 27, slate roof to the front pitch, rear roofs in clay pantiles.

PLAN: C plan with principal range aligned south-west to north-east, and two rear ranges projecting to the north-west.

EXTERIOR: facing south-east, the three-storey front facade is of five bays, comprising two bays to number 25 (left) and three bays to number 27. Number 25 is of yellow brick in Flemish Bond, with a low stone plinth, and number 27 is of scored render with a taller plinth due to the falling ground. Paired, painted pedimented door surrounds approached by low stone steps. The surrounds have plain pilasters with moulded bases, feather capitals and a frieze decorated with husk festoons. Semi-circular arched architraves with fanlights and recessed fielded panel doors. A curved lamp bracket with scroll decoration and a modern lamp fitting is situated above the right-hand doorway, and the door to the left has an urn door knocker. Windows have projecting stone sills and wedge lintels with fluted keystones (all painted), all two-over-two sashes with horns: to number 25, one to the ground floor and two per floor above, and to number 27, two to the ground floor and three to the top floor (which is lower here than at 25), unevenly spaced but stacked. The front slope of the roof is clad in Welsh slate, and to number 27 is sprocketed with stone coping and kneeler to the gable. Ridge stacks at either end (shared at the left with the adjacent, unlisted public house, with bands, cogging and octagonal pots) and on the party wall. Ogee cast-iron gutter with wrought-iron stays, and cast-iron downpipes.

The north-east side facade is of orange brick in English Garden Wall bond, with coped gable and kneelers, and gable stack. It has blocked stair windows set above the ground and first floors with sills and lintels matching the front; a lower window is also blocked but without these features. A low two-storey rear outshut has modern windows and partially blocked openings. The southern rear outshut has coped gable with kneelers, and gable stack.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

325715

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Morrell, WW, The History and Antiquities of Selby, (1867)
Chrystal, P, Selby & Goole Through Time, (2012), 48

Websites
Lodge of St Germain No.566 - Lodge History, accessed 22 November 2022 from https://www.stgermain566.org/history

Other
1:1056 Town Map, 1849
1:500 Town Map, 1890-9

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