Regular, mainstream, English Freemasonry consists of two parallel Masonic Orders. These are the Order of Craft Freemasonry (consisting of three degrees - Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason) and the Order of the Holy Royal Arch (consisting of one degree - the Royal Arch degree). BLUE is the colour of the Craft, and RED is the colour of the Royal Arch.

In the nineteenth century two rival Grand Lodges came together in London to form the “United Grand Lodge of England”. Both Grand Lodges had previously worked the three degrees of the Craft, but one had virtually ignored the Royal Arch, whilst the other had treated it like a fourth degree of the Craft. In the Union a compromise was reached between them. The Royal Arch was fully recognised as a regular degree of Freemasonry, but it was kept separate from the Craft by having its own organisation as a separate Order.

Craft Freemasonry is worked in Lodges, subject to the Grand Lodge. Royal Arch Freemasonry is worked in Chapters, subject to the Grand Chapter. A Chapter must be attached to a Lodge and bears the same name and number as that Lodge. Where a particular Lodge does NOT have a Chapter attached, it will usually have an established relationship with the Chapter attached to another Lodge.

There is no “Chapter of Assistance No 2773” attached to the “Lodge of Assistance No 2773”; however, the Lodge does have a relationship with the “Royal Somerset House & Inverness Chapter No 4”, and there is a considerable overlap of membership. Therefore, members of our Lodge who wish to join the Order of the Royal Arch will usually do so by receiving the Royal Arch degree in Chapter No 4.

For the benefit of members, forthcoming Chapter meeting dates are listed on the ‘Meetings’ page of this site. Members of the Lodge who wish to join the Chapter should speak to the Secretary, who is also the Lodge’s ‘Royal Arch Representative’.