Chaloner Lodge No. 2644
Freemasonry in Melksham
Freemasonry first came to Melksham in 1817. Goldeney's "History of Freemasonry in Wiltshire" states that in 1812, the United Grand Lodge of England authorised the transfer of the Warrant of Lodge No.10, meeting at Norwich, to certain Brethren at Westbury, Wiltshire and that it be renamed Lodge of Rectitude, No. 632.
The Lodge met at the Crown Inn, Westbury. No records exist of the meetings of this Lodge and after four years it was suspended by Grand Lodge.
In 1817 it was transferred to Melksham where it met at the Kings Arms for the first time on September the 9th 1817. It subsequently moved to the Crown Hotel, then to the Bear and back again to the Kings Arms. In 1829 it moved to Box as, quote,
"The inhabitants of Melksham extended more than Common opposition to the good cause of Masonry"
From Box it moved to Bath, then to Monkton Farleigh and finally to Corsham in 1856, in the process of which, it was renumbered several times and eventually became No.335.
The Lodge of Rectitude, No.335 is still meeting at the Methuen Arms, Corsham in May and June each year and is supported by joining members from Lodges in Wiltshire and Somerset.
For almost 70 years, Masonry was not practised in Melksham until the formation of the Chaloner Lodge in 1896.