For regular users of the TFL London Underground system, and in particular the Central Line, Snaresbrook will be a familiar name. Historically, described as a rural village within Wanstead Parish in Epping Forest, Essex, today Snaresbrook is an affluent outer London suburb.
Like many Lodges Snaresbrook Lodge was born in the aftermath of the Great War, established by brethren wishing to preserve the camaraderie that had helped sustain them through the horrors of that conflict. Whilst many of those Lodges, established in the wake of WW1, had military and regimental connections Snaresbrook Lodge owes its origins to a group of men who served both their County and Country in the Special Constabulary in the Wanstead and Leytonstone area of during WW1. Their responsibilities included guarding bridges, reservoirs and other infrastructurally important locations deemed liable to attack or sabotage and enforcing blackouts and other air raid regulations. This gave them a deep spirit of comradeship, and as some were already Freemasons they decided, when the time for disbandment came, that they would form a Lodge to continue the bond and into which the others, if they wished, could be woven. Special Constables, however brave in their actions, were not eligible to be awarded the Victoria Cross but were afforded their own commemorative medal which is shown below (right).
Although we hold our meetings in Central London, we retain our connection with the Snaresbrook area by holding our Lodges of Instruction at Wanstead House on The Green at Wanstead.
