General exterior view from W-S-W.

Description General exterior view from W-S-W.

Date 1911

Collection Records of Bedford Lemere and Company, photographers, London, England

Catalogue Number SC 736817

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BL 21372

Scope and Content Main Entrance, Masonic Temple, No 85 Crown Street, Aberdeen Aberdeen's Masonic Temple, a rather severe Greek-Roman-style building, was designed in 1909-10 by Harbourne MacLennan of the architectural firm, Jenkins & Marr, as a temple and meeting halls to serve the Masonic Lodges and other Orders of Freemasonry in the city. The architectural photographer, Harry Bedford Lemere, was commissioned to photograph the building in 1911. The temple, a two-storeyed building with attic and basement levels, has a five-windowed front to Crown Street. The central entrance bay projects forward from the rest of the building, and is topped by an exuberant broken pediment supported by coupled Ionic columns. The entrance is adorned with Masonic symbols, including the square and compasses, the emblem of Ancient Masonry, and the triple triangle, the symbol of health and fellowship, above the left and right paired columns respectively. The chequerboard pattern of black and white squares in the arch of the window over the door is a representation of the mosaic pavement of King Solomon's Temple. Freemasonry, an organisation based on mutual help and fellowship, has unique and elaborate secret rituals. The buildings where ceremonies are performed are often rather severe and inward-looking although the exterior may display emblems associated with the early history and legends of Freemasonry in prominent positions. For example, the Ionic columns on the entrance front are equated with Wisdom, and the Latin inscription above the door, 'Audi, Vide, Tace' means 'hear, see, be silent', an appropriate motto for a secret organisation. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/736817

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap