The Scarlet Cord

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Royal Order of Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord.

The current Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord is based on an earlier Order, The Royal Order of Knights of the Scarlet Cord, developed in the British Isles in 1889, which was itself derived from 18th Century documents from the Amsterdam Masonic archives.

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The rituals and ceremonies were rewritten and enriched by His Honour Judge Fredrick Adolphus Philbrick, KC, and were performed as appendant grades to the Order of the Secret Monitor. The rituals of the Order are taken from Old Testament times, commencing at the period of Joshua, the fall of Jericho and the story of Rahab. The main purpose was to raise considerable sums of money for the Secret Monitor Benevolent Fund, which still plays a significant role in Masonic welfare provision today. The Order ceased working in 1929.

A paper on the original Order written and delivered in 2001 by Peter Glyn Williams, the then Grand Supreme Ruler of the Secret Monitor, stimulated interest in the long-forgotten rituals. In 2006 a Secret Monitor Conclave was Consecrated with the sole purpose of reviving the old Order and conferring updated versions of the original six grades, some of which only remained in fragmented form. A huge appetite for the grades among Secret Monitors led to the Order being inaugurated as a separate Sovereign body in a magnificent ceremony in the Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall on 21 July 2010.

Provincial Grand Summus

R. Dist. Comp. Michael A. Jacques, V

Province of Durham and Northumberland

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To find out more about the order, contact should be made with the Provincial Grand Recorder.

Numerical List of Conclaves

Conclaves Number Venue
Keys of Jericho 7 TI Masonic Hall, Holmside Avenue, Dunston, NE11 9JT
Twelve Stones 37 TI Masonic Hall, Raby Road, Hartlepool, TS24 8AH
Perfect Seven 38 TI Masonic Hall, Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HW
Northumberland 39 TI Masonic Hall, John Street, Ashington, NE63 0SE
Peter Glyn Williams 102 Masonic Hall, Station Road, Shiney Row, DH4 7PQ
Lindisfarne 111 Freemasons’ Hall, The Parade, Berwick, TD15 1DF
Andrew Christopher Sweeney 112 Masonic Hall, Prudhoe Street, Alnwick, NE66 1UW