Minerva Lodge Of Freemasons Number 250

Minerva Lodge of Freemasons Number 250, Kingston upon Hull

A Swedenborgian chapel converted and remodelled as a masonic lodge. Built in 1698, it was substantially remodelled and converted for masonic use in 1802, with further internal alterations in the mid and late 19th century. The building was restored in 1958 and remodelled in 1978.

The structure is built of brick, partly rendered, with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. It comprises two storeys with a 5 by 3 window arrangement.

The Dagger Lane frontage displays several distinct sections. To the left stands a single bay with a coped parapet and a round-arched glazing bar stair window with voussoirs. The keystone is carved with Masonic symbols, and an impost band below is inscribed "Minerva Lodge 1802". Beneath this is a 20th-century door with overlight and brick flat arch. To the right is a slightly projecting bay containing a 24-pane sash window and a 16-pane sash below. A reeded wooden doorcase with a fielded 6-panel door and fanlight is positioned here, flanked to the right by a 16-pane sash with brick flat arch. Further right is a lower range with two 20th-century glazing bar sashes on each floor. A 20th-century facing gable on Dagger Lane displays three 16-pane sashes, with a datestone beneath the central example. Below this gable is a full-width porch with swept lead roof, a 6-panel door with overlight, and flanking 16-pane sashes, all with brick flat arches. Beyond this, to the left, is a smaller 6-pane sash.

The interior contains the temple of 1802 on the first floor. This is a rectangular room with angled corners, a dentillated cornice, frieze with Latin inscription, and a coved ceiling with central boss painted with Masonic devices. Round-arched recesses on either side contain niches with busts. The apsidal entrance end has a curved 6-panel corner door and a similar round-headed door (now blocked) in the opposite corner. A central recess flanked by Ionic quarter pilasters, with creased ceiling, contains a tabernacle with two Ionic columns and segmental pediment, which houses an inscribed board with brackets carrying Corinthian columns. The apsidal dais end features a moulded round arch carried on short Corinthian columns, with painted text and keystone. A central recess flanked by Ionic quarter pilasters contains a curtained tabernacle with Corinthian columns and segmental pediment. Fitted oak stalls stand on either side. The side walls have single round-arched recesses containing niches and busts. Fittings, primarily mid-19th century, include carved chairs, reading desks, and two rows of fitted benches along either side.

The adjoining assembly hall is accessed from the temple by a curved 6-panel door flanked by Doric columns painted with masonic emblems and topped by ball finials. At the opposite end is a moulded panelled double door to the former dining room. The side wall contains 20th-century glazed doors. Fittings include elliptical-arched moulded boards flanked by Ionic columns and keystones, bearing the names of Masters.

The former dining room, now the main hall, has a stop-chamfered cross beam ceiling. The south side contains two blocked windows from the former chapel. At one end is a central round-headed niche fronted by a sculpture of Minerva flanked by Science and Art, created by W.D. Keyworth in 1854.

The ground-floor entrance hall contains a plaster sculpture of Minerva on a marble base, a bust of Queen Victoria dated 1902, and a portrait medallion of Canon Kemp dated 1885.