Masonic Hall

Masonic Hall, originally the Chapel of the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, is a building with origins dating back to the 15th century. It was rebuilt in 1839 for Edward Harwood Greaves of Hesley Hall. The exterior is cement rendered with a Welsh slate roof and features a combined nave and chancel with four bays. The building has a chamfered plinth, and the entrance in the fourth bay on the north side includes a nail-studded door set in a double-chamfered, pointed-arched surround with a hoodmould. Above the door is an architraved panel inscribed with the words 'Except the Lord/build the House/they labour in vain/that build it/ Psalm CXXVII.VI'. The other bays are adorned with tall lancet windows, each with hoodmoulds. The structure includes corbelled kneelers and ashlar gable copings, featuring an east cross and an ashlar west bellcote, which does not contain a bell. The west end has two lancet windows with hoodmoulds, while the south windows lack hoodmoulds. The east end showcases a three-light window with cusped ogee lights beneath a transom and panel tracery above, also with a hoodmould. There is a gable vesica, and to the left of the east window, there is a re-used 15th-century image niche with a moulded sill, quadrant-moulded jambs, and a crocketed and castellated canopy featuring weathered head carvings. The interior includes a west balcony, but the original fittings have been removed.