Meeting Place
Masonic Hall
Station Road
Newnham
GL14 1DA
Meeting on:
1st Friday in April, June and November
The Dean Forest Preceptory of St Mary was consecrated at Cheltenham Masonic Hall on Friday 11th November 1960.
It was consecrated on the same day and in the same location as the Provincial Priory of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. The Preceptory was consecrated in the morning, and the Provincial Priory in the afternoon. Logically therefore the Dean Forest Preceptory was actually part of the Provincial Priory of Bristol and Gloucestershire for a very brief period of time before becoming part of the new Provincial Priory of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire a few hours later.
Largely because of the consecration in the afternoon, the Preceptory was honoured that, at its consecration, the ceremony was carried out by the Most Eminent & Supreme Grand Master, The Rt. Hon. Lord Harris, M.C., V.L., G.C.T.. He was supported by many active great officers including the Provincial Priors for Worcestershire and Bristol who acted as 1st and 2nd Constables respectively.
Initially the Preceptory met at Lydney, and then from 2nd May 1964 it has been meeting at Newnham-on-Severn. This location was chosen to attract members from western Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire; there were already Preceptories in other parts of Gloucestershire as well as Bristol and South Wales.
Travelling to Preceptory meetings in the early days was not straightforward as the Severn Crossing bridges were not built until 1966 and 1996. Members from the south had no real choice but to travel via Gloucester. Nonetheless the Preceptory thrived.
The Preceptory today is predominantly made up of members from Gloucestershire and Herefordshire but there are also members from Bristol, Monmouthshire, Wales and even further afield.
