St Nicholas Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners No 413
Discovery and Restoration
The St. Nicholas Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners No. 413 was Consecrated on 27th of February 1925 at the Masonic Hall in Harwich and is the 5th oldest RAM moored to the 5th oldest Mark giving it the distinction of being one of only two Lodges in the Mark Province of Essex that have this coterminous chronology. The other being that of the Beaconsfield Mark and RAM No. 205, having the 2nd oldest unit in each regard.
In 1967 a hand carved plaque bearing the crest of the St. Nicholas RAM was presented to the Lodge by its creator, W. Bro. Frank George Littlewood, Prov.RAMGR, a shipwright and Commander of the RAM in 1960. He would become the Master of the St. Nicholas Mark in 1962. W. Bro. Frank had been Elevated into the RAM in February of 1935 and became the Lodge Organist in the same year. He would remain in this position until 1943 beginning his journey to the Chair, which included 7 years as Warder.
Unfortunately, this plaque was lost and the current membership did not know of its existence, without mention of its loss in contemporary records. As the Lodge readied itself for a return to Masonic business after the lockdown, members of St. Nicholas were charged with assisting in the collection of the Lodge furniture so that by dispensation, they could meet at Brightlingsea instead of their home temple at Harwich.
The members were duly dispatched and the furniture was found beside an empty cupboard bearing the signs of damage from wood worm and neglect. It was W. Bro. David Rout, IPC of the St. Nicholas RAM that took the initiative to break down this cupboard to clear the infestation and in doing so, came upon the long lost St. Nicholas plaque, which unbeknownst to him had been missing for many years.
W. Bro. Rout took the plaque home and restored it to its former glory, now motivated to research the origins of this fine piece of work and in doing so, found W. Bro. Frank Littlewood in the Lodge history covering the years 1925 to 1975, with an entry on the presentation of this plaque.
In 1967 a hand carved plaque bearing the crest of the St. Nicholas RAM was presented to the Lodge by its creator, W. Bro. Frank George Littlewood, Prov.RAMGR, a shipwright and Commander of the RAM in 1960. He would become the Master of the St. Nicholas Mark in 1962. W. Bro. Frank had been Elevated into the RAM in February of 1935 and became the Lodge Organist in the same year. He would remain in this position until 1943 beginning his journey to the Chair, which included 7 years as Warder.
Unfortunately, this plaque was lost and the current membership did not know of its existence, without mention of its loss in contemporary records. As the Lodge readied itself for a return to Masonic business after the lockdown, members of St. Nicholas were charged with assisting in the collection of the Lodge furniture so that by dispensation, they could meet at Brightlingsea instead of their home temple at Harwich.
The members were duly dispatched and the furniture was found beside an empty cupboard bearing the signs of damage from wood worm and neglect. It was W. Bro. David Rout, IPC of the St. Nicholas RAM that took the initiative to break down this cupboard to clear the infestation and in doing so, came upon the long lost St. Nicholas plaque, which unbeknownst to him had been missing for many years.
W. Bro. Rout took the plaque home and restored it to its former glory, now motivated to research the origins of this fine piece of work and in doing so, found W. Bro. Frank Littlewood in the Lodge history covering the years 1925 to 1975, with an entry on the presentation of this plaque.
David Rout and Richard with the restored plaque
