Freemasonry in Upton - the Upton Weal Stone Lodge & connections with other Chester lodges

Upton Weal Stone Lodge was warranted on 6 Nov 1946 and consecrated on 27 Jan 1947.

Frederick (Frank) Chidlow was a founding member and became the first Secretary of the Lodge. He suggested that ' this ancient stone being fashioned by men to enable them to fulfill their several obligations one to another and in so doing to promote and enrich the common good and well being of their fellows - it thereby presented a fitting symbolism worthy to be preserved in the name of the Lodge'
(Frank Chidlow (b. 1898) was Headmaster of St.Mary's school for many years and a prime mover to establishing the Village Hall.)

The first Worshipful Master was 'Past Grand Standard Bearer' Dr John Ambrose Cooke. The minutes of the Consecration record the presence of 18 Founders and 96 others.The Bishop of Chester the Rt Rev D.H.Crick in his capacity as Provincial Grand Chaplain gave the Oration.

Shortly after the consecration, the Vicar of Upton - the Rev John Weldon Williams was admitted to membership of the Lodge retaining the parish church's tradition of close association with local freemasonary. The centenary of the church held in 1954 started with a service for Freemasons.Rev Wilfred Sparling had been a member of a local Lodge.

The mother lodge for Upton weal Stone is the Independence Lodge - both of which continue to meet in the local Masonic Hall - Cheshire View in Christleton.

Up to the middle of the 20th century many of the well known names in Upton would have been Freemasons. One could expect to find members of the established professions, civic dignatories, clerics & other chuch officials, landed gentry - all members of one or other of the local lodges - only some of whom post 1946 would have chosen to transfer to the Upton Weal Stone Lodge. Current membership stands at around 30.