GRAND LODGE
OF ANTIENT, FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF
SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND NORTHERN TERRITORY

Freemasonry in South Australia and Northern Territory
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Adelaide Masonic Centre

tours description video
space & room hire

tours
254 North Terrace
Adelaide
South Australia

Adelaide Freemasons Hall
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Touring the Adelaide Masonic Centre:Freemasons Hall at dusk

Members of the public are welcome at conducted tours of the building  held most Thursdays at 2pm. 

Bookings - these are necessary for Group Tours, but not for individual tours

The tours, conducted by Freemasons, include a brief introduction to Freemasonry, followed by an inspection of the heritage listed building (including lodge rooms).  The tour includes portions of the collection of the Masonic Museum which contains many items of historical interest.


Enquiries, and Bookings for Group Tours:

phone (08) 8223 1633  (business hours)
email:  glsa @ freemasonrysaust.org.au


Disabled access
is via the side entry ramp on the west side of the building. 

Parking on site is limited.  Two public parking stations adjoin the Masonic Centre, one entered via Frome Street and the other via North Terrace.

This tour has featured in the TV series "Postcards SA"
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CLICK HERE for a brief report which will open in a new browser window

Please see below for some photos of the building.


View Larger Map

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History and Description of Building:

The land on which the Masonic Centre stands was purchased in 1922 for  £10,640.   

The architects were John Quinton Bruce and William H. Harral.  Bro. Harral personally superintended the work, theionic pillars at entrance main contract for which was let to Anderson and Company.   The Grand Master officiated at the ceremony of laying the Foundation Stone on 15th April 1925. The three lodge rooms on the third and fourth floors were dedicated in April 1927, and the final payment for the building was made in February 1928. The total cost of the land, buildings and furnishings was  £116,318/11/6.  Originally the building was intended to be constructed from cut stone and granite, but costs dictated extensive use of reinforced concrete.

The building comprises six levels, accommodating offices and meeting rooms, three lodge rooms, kitchens, reception rooms and banqueting rooms, a large hall at the rear (the 'Great Hall'), the Masonic Museum and the Masonic Library

The main entrance (see left) on North Terrace is accentuated by four great ionic columns on the exterior of the building and approached by a flight of granite steps.  Above the entrance are the Latin words "Audi Vide Tace" derived from the Latin proverb "Audi, Vide, Tace, si vis vivere in pace"  ("Hear, see, be silent, if you would live in peace").   This old saying was the motto of the Grand Lodge until the 1950's.


Aedificatum et Dicatum Magna Artifici Mundi

The Latin inscription  "Aedificatum et Dicatum Magna Artifici Mundi AD MDCCCCXXV"  is placed higher on the facade of the building.  A translation reads "Erected and Dedicated to the Great Architect of the Universe AD 1925".


On passing through the entrance doors an outer vestibule is entered, the 'Hall of Memory'. On its walls there are bronze Rolls of Honour c
ommemorating the names of those Freemasons who served in the Great War of 1914-1918.
 

stairs
hall of fame

Passing through the next doorway one enters the spacious 'Hall of Fame' (see left and right) which is notable for its propylaeum like form, with colonnades, marble floor and staircase. 


Columns of the three Greek orders of architecture - doric, ionic and corinthian - are among the major features of this space
which is heightened by a mezzanine floor reached by the main marble staircase (see right) situated opposite the main entrance.



On the ground floor are located the administrative offices of the Grand Lodge, the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health, and the Adelaide Masonic Centre Museum.


The largest public hall, the 'Great Hall' (see below), is situated towards the rear of the building, behind the staircase.

Great Hall


The first (mezzanine) and second floors contain offices and areas let to The University of Adelaide.


Glover RoomThe third floor contains two sets of lodge rooms.  One is named for A.M. Simpson and the other for C.R.J. Glover (the long serving second Grand Secretary who was first lord mayor of Adelaide in 1919).   The anterooms to the lodge rooms contain displays and portraits from the collections of the Adelaide Masonic Centre Museum.

(at left, the Glover Room, set up for a meeting of a lodge of Mark Master Masons)




Organ in the Way Room

 
On the fourth floor are found the largest lodge room
(named for the first Grand Master, Sir Samuel Way) with its magnificent organ and choir (see right), and the Masonic Library.  


The organ was dedicated in 1956 as a memorial to those who died in the service of Australia in the Second World war.






Chandelier Room
The basement contains
several banqueting rooms, a large reception area (the 'Chandelier Room' - see left) and a kitchen. 







The Masonic Museum collection is displayed on several floors of the building.

window in the form of a protractor


The building structural detail has many interesting features which serve to remind Freemasons of various Masonic principles.   Many of these features may be seen during the course of the conducted public tour 
(for example, the window detail at right, showing a protractor, and further below, an Ionic pillar).





A short video showing some rooms visited during the tour  ,,,  

(video directed and shot by Mike Retter, edited by Brecon James)



Our thanks to  Mike Retter  for giving permission to use the video.
Music:  the Introit: Requiem aeternam  from
Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor (K.626)

A floor plan required for lodges in this Grand Lodge can be seen elsewhere on this web site.


Make a
3D model of the Adelaide Masonic Centre - with aid of the program Sketchup.


Further reading:    Adelaide Masonic Centre Conservation Plan 1993



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ionic capital symbolising wisdom
 

Note for historical section - past monetary sums in today's values:  

Year
Then = Now (2008)
1901 A£1 = A$125
1910 A£1 = A$113
1920 A£1 = A$57
1930 A£1 = A$67
1940 A£1 = A$69
1950
A£1 = A$42
1960 A£1 = A$24
1965 A£1 = A$21.90
1966 A$1 = A$10.62
1970 A$1 = A$9.38
1975 A$1 = A$5.75
1980 A$1 = A$3.48
1990 A$1 = A$1.60
2000 A$1 = A$1.28
2008 A$1 = A$1.00

(Australia changed from using Pounds to Dollars in 1966 when A£1 was equivalent to A$2.
 The above estimates are adjusted to spending power for the year 2008
- from Reserve Bank of Australia Inflation Calculator for a representative basket of goods and services)

 

square and compasses, symbol of Freemasonry

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