A PROCESSION of more than 1,000 Freemasons, watched over by the Duke of Kent, will mark the official opening of the North-East's latest Masonic Hall tomorrow.
The Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham, is launching its most intriguing and fascinating attraction to date, with the opening of the Masonic Hall - the first to permanently open to the public in Europe.
The Duke of Kent, who is the head of the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons in England, will preside over the ceremony, starting at 11.30am.
The procession of Freemasons along the Town Street at Beamish will be the largest public gathering of Freemasons in full regalia in recent years.
The hall is an authentic recreation of an early 20th Century Masonic Hall - with a real frontage that has come from a former Masonic Hall in Park Terrace, Sunderland, taken down and rebuilt at Beamish.
The Masonic Hall has been built behind the frontage, and features an interior complete with period decor and rare Masonic furnishings, paintings and artefacts, providing an insight into the world of the Freemasons in 1913.
The hall has been developed in conjunction with the Freemasons, and features a interior with a marble black and white chequer floor, Gothic fireplace, mid-18th Century chairs, symbolic boards and original Masonic paintings.
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