Simon de Montfort 9024
Friendship, Fraternity, Fun
Our Lodge, Our Mission
Simon de Montfort Lodge’s mission is to promote personal growth and improve the lives of others. We take responsibility for the well-being of our brothers, our families, and the community as a whole. We value respect, kindness, tolerance, and our differences – religious, ethnic, cultural, generational, and educational, and strive for harmony in our individual lives, in our lodge, and in the global community.
Our lodge meets on the third Tuesday of February, March, April, September, October and December. As a lodge, we strive to be active in our community. We have various charitable and educational events throughout the year, as well as social occasions. Some events are for members only, but many include our families.
Making True Friends
Masonry is a community of men and their families who share similar beliefs and values. The fraternity finds it important to connect with other men of honour, compassion, love, trust, and knowledge, regardless of their race, colour, religious beliefs, political views, sexual orientation, physical ability, citizenship, or national origin. We are friends and brothers, and are connected through this vital and uplifting organization of moral men.
Improving Ourselves
Our continuing pursuit of truth, knowledge, ethics, and leadership skills makes us better men and brings more meaning to our lives. Learning the tenets of Freemasonry, paired with being an active part of our community, gives us the opportunity to develop leadership and organizational skills, and builds self-discipline through commitment and self-confidence.
Having an Impact
As a member of the Freemasons, United Grand Lodge, Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex, and Simon de Montfort 9024, we are a part of a worldwide organization that values tradition, history, and timeless wisdom. The traditions and core values of our fraternity are meaningful today and will endure for centuries to come because of our direct impact in our community, through our charities, and on a personal level.
Want to know more?
Membership of Simon de Montfort is open to men of eighteen and older who meet the qualifications and standards of character and intention. Men of all ethnic and religious backgrounds are welcome. Anyone is welcome to request information about the fraternity.
If you are interested in applying for membership to our lodge, now is a good time to start. Please contact us to request more information
Email: dan@handdmortgages.com, julian@jsavory.com or playbourn43@gmail.com
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
1206-1265
Lord of Kenilworth Castle, Governor of Gascogny and for a while, virtual Ruler of England
He was a true product of his time
Halfway between Chartres and Paris can be found the small town of Montfort L’Amaury. On the outskirts of the town there is a little hill – ‘the strong mount’. It is from here the de Montfort family adopted its name, around 800-900 AD. Close connections with England started with Simon de Montfort III, around 1150 AD.
Born at Montfort L’Amaury in France about 1206, Simon de Montfort IV came to England as a young man to claim the Earlham of Leicester through descent from an English grandmother. He is described as a man tall of stature, with a remarkable energy and drive. To this drive he added both moral and spiritual superiority. Not only was he eloquent, friendly, chaste and modest, but also a profound Christian, eager to convey and promote Christianity and punish heresy. He could be both strict and very severe when he defended the affairs of the church.
Befriended by King Henry III, son of King John of Magna Carta fame, he quickly rose to prominence and influence, which culminated in his marrying Eleanor, the King’s sister. As a wedding gift the King presented the couple with Kenilworth Castle. He was also ruthless and ambitious for personal power. After about nine years of close friendship he found himself in direct conflict with the weak and unpopular King, who accused him of seducing Eleanor before marriage. Smouldering hatred burst into flame in 1264 when Simon, supported by other Nobles and the Church, met and defeated the forces of the King at the battle of Lewes.
King Henry III was held prisoner in the Tower of London, and Simon formed the first Parliament, in which Commoners for the first time participated in the Government of their country. His Parliament however, was short lived. Many of Simon’s followers deserted him because they considered him to be too autocratic and transferred their allegiance to the King’s son, later Edward the First, who fought Simon and his followers in 1265 and killed him. So, less than six months after his victory over King Henry III, Simon de Montfort lay dead on the battlefield of Evesham.
He was buried in the Benedictine Monastery nearby, to which pilgrims flocked for centuries, and many miracles were attributed to him.
Simon De Montfort will always be remembered as the FATHER OF PARLIAMENT.
The Founding and Naming of the Lodge
By W/Bro Jack Slaughter, PPrJGW, Founding Charter Master
Initiated in 1968 into Riddlesdown Lodge 6107 in the province of Surrey, I later wished to join a Lodge nearer to where I lived in Sussex, and in 1973 I was invited to become a founder member of Kymer Lodge 8521 in Hassocks. This worked well until 1980 when the lodge decided to move, causing problems for members living in Hassocks and the surrounding area
At this point I decided to investigate the possibility of forming another Lodge to fill the vacuum which Kymer Lodge had left. The Bush Telegraph response was excellent and great assistance was given to me by the then Provincial Secretary Major J McD Glass, MBE, and his staff.
When asked if I had decided on the name for the new Lodge, I thought of the previous summer holiday when I had canoed down the Dordogne, entering one of the most spectacular sections called the ‘De Montfort meander’. This is a deep gorge with the De Montfort Castle at the top, seemingly anchored to a rock which drops sheer to the right bank of the river, an area of exceptional natural beauty and tranquillity. Having enjoyed history lessons at school this was my starting point. This was where the de Montforts seized the castle in 1214 and razed it to the ground. It was rebuilt for the first time and then destroyed three times during the Hundred Years War, but that’s another story.
History lesson memories returned to the Battle of Lewes when Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, led the barons against King Henry III on the 12th May 1264, and defeated him. He was supported by Henry De Montfort, Gilbert de Clair, Nicholas de Segrave, Robert de Vere, John de Burgh, John Fitzjohn, Goeffrey Fitzpeter and John de Bears. They were also joined by an army of several thousand troops and citizens from the City of London. These were the people who changed the system, ensuring that Commoners other than the King could have a say in Government, which is now part of our inheritance.
Simon de Montfort was the Father of Parliament. I thought my History teacher would approve this choice of ‘Simon de Montfort’ – such a well-known figure in English and particularly Sussex history, as the name of our Lodge.
Due to the sudden closure of our meeting place at Ockley Lodge in Hassocks, the founders had to find another venue. Fortuitously this just happened to be the Lewis Temple, which forms part of the West Gate of Lewes where history was made with the defeat of King Henry III on the 12th May 1264.
This has been our home ever since.