It is well known that operative stonemasons indented the stones they had prepared with special marks. These were of two types, those that indicated the orientation and position of the stone within the building together with a personal mark to identify the mason who prepared it. Additional marks were sometimes employed to indicate the location where the stone had been quarried.

Operative stonemasonry, as a major trade, began to evolve in the early 11th century with the Saxon builders and intensified in the centuries following the Norman invasion. By the 14th century, the building had reached a scale that required the trade to be regulated in its customs and practices. The first regulatory body was the Masons’ Company, formed in London sometime before 1375, later known as the London Masons’ Company. It was granted a coat of arms in 1472. These arms were later adopted by the first Grand Lodge soon after its foundation in 1717, and still form one-half of the arms of the present United Grand Lodge of England.

The earliest known document regulating the trade is the Regius Manuscript of c. 1390. These and later documents, now referred to as the Old Charges, are the origins of the present charges found in the Craft Book of Constitutions, abbreviated forms of which are delivered to each new Mason and to the Master before his installation.

Although the origins of speculative Freemasonry are unclear, it is evident that it has borrowed heavily from the medieval operative stonemasons’ trade in a number of respects - including the symbolism of working tools and gauges in the Craft and other Masonic Orders, and the use of marks in speculative Mark Masonry.

The earliest authenticated record of a man being made a truly speculative Mason is that of Elias Ashmole (founder of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, among other things), who was admitted to a Lodge in Warrington in 1646.

The first Grand Lodge was founded at the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse, St Pauls Church Yard, in the City of London in 1717 and this marked the start of organised Freemasonry. Because of disputes about certain practices and principles, a breakaway rival Grand Lodge was formed in 1751. The two Grand Lodges eventually reconciled their differences and the Act of Union was signed in 1813 when the present United Grand Lodge of England came into being.

As to the ritual, we know (from early exposures) that a system of three Craft Degrees was well developed by 1730 and that the Royal Arch emerged in the 1740s.

The first mention of a brother being made a Mark Mason was at a Lodge in Newcastle in January 1756, although earlier references to a brother having "received his mark' are known. But it is not clear from these records whether a degree ceremony was being worked.

The earliest records of a speculative Mark degree being worked in England are those of Royal Arch Chapter No 257 at Portsmouth on 1 September 1769 when several brethren were made Mark Masons and Mark Masters. It was introduced to the Chapter by that very well known Masonic figure, Thomas Dunkerley. As to where he obtained it is a matter that merits more detailed investigation. Note that in the earlier working the Mark Man and Mark Master was performed as two distinct degrees as opposed to the present practice of the Mark Man forming no more than an introductory phase to the Mark Master Degree. It is also apparent from the earlier working that the Mark Man degree was conferred on Fellow Crafts and the Mark Master Degree on Master Masons.

The early Mark Degrees were closely associated with the Royal Arch, as they still are in many parts of the world. Their development probably followed soon after that of the Royal Arch. Many different ceremonies were known to exist, parts of which would be recognisable to the present day.

It is also clear that the Mark Degrees were worked in Craft Lodges and in Royal Arch Chapters up until 1813. The existence of independent Mark Lodges at this time is not known, although one lodge, the Lodge of Hope, Bradford, conferred the Degree under a constitution originating from a body called "The Grand Lodge of All England, held at York'. Its influence in this country was confined to York, Cheshire and Lancashire. It was formed in 1725 and existed until 1792 but its influence abroad is more important.

The Relationship between the Mark and the Craft

There is a well-known statement that was agreed upon in the Act of Union between the Premier and Antients Grand Lodges in 1813 - it appears at the front of the Book of Constitutions of the United Grand Lodge of England. It is a declaration that “Pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, namely, those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch”.

The fact that a second Grand Lodge (the “Antients”) emerged in 1751 was largely because of a disagreement over ritual content. It is therefore hardly surprising that, eventually, in order to achieve harmony a considerable amount of ground had to be conceded by both parties. The Premier (or “Moderns”) Grand Lodge did not recognise the Royal Arch, or even the Installation Ceremony, as part of pure Masonry – so they evidently conceded much to the Antients in order to achieve the Union. Against this background, the Mark and other Masonic Orders were left in limbo. We had in fact a good old English compromise that evidently left many brethren discontented.

So, what was emerging as a closely related set of “Solomonic” degrees, i.e. symbolism based on KST (or, in the case of the Royal Arch, on the building of the Second Temple) became split. Mark was no longer to be considered by the Craft as part of pure Antient Masonry.

After 1813 the Mark Degree continued to grow in popularity and was worked, unofficially, in Craft Lodges and Royal Arch Chapters – a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. The eventual establishment of a separate English Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons in 1856 came after a very intriguing period, which will now be briefly explained.

It is somewhat arbitrary to state that the Mark is not part of pure Freemasonry, while the Royal Arch is. This is reinforced by the fact that the Mark Degree is so recognised by our two Sister Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland – and indeed by most other constitutions throughout the world. In almost every constitution the Mark Degree is a pre-requisite for the Royal Arch.

The Formation of Mark Grand Lodge

Initially, six Mark Masons who had received the Degree from the Bon Accord Royal Arch Chapter No 70 (Aberdeen) applied to that Chapter for a Charter to form a Mark Lodge in London. This was duly granted and Bon Accord Lodge of Mark Masters held its first meeting on 18th September 1851, at which they balloted for 18 candidates of whom six were advanced that day. In 1855, following the appearance of an article on the Mark in the Freemasons’ Monthly Magazine (edited by Richard Spencer a founder of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge), there ensued a major dispute between the Bon Accord Chapter and the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland (SGCS). In short, SGCS accused the Bon Accord Chapter of acting without authority in issuing the Charter. Time does not permit us to follow these events in detail, suffice it to say that following heated exchanges, Bon Accord Chapter was suspended by SGCS in September 1855 and never met after 1856. This left the thriving Bon Accord Mark Lodge, now with some 120 members, without a valid Charter but still anxious to work under an authoritative body. Strangely, nothing of the Scottish fracas is reported in the minutes of the time but Bro Spencer (later of Toye Kenning & Spencer) gave full reports in the Freemasons’ Monthly Magazine.

Acknowledging the growing popularity of the Mark Degree, both at home and abroad, a Joint Committee of Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter in England was appointed in November 1855 to report on the position of Mark Masonry in relation to Ancient Free Masonry. The Committee was soon called upon to deliberate when some senior members of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge, who held prominent positions within English Freemasonry, made another attempt to seek recognition for the Mark Degree from United Grand Lodge. It should be noted that three members of the Joint Committee were also members of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge, namely John Symonds, W H Absolon, and John Hervey. On 21st May 1856, John Havers, another member of the Committee, was advanced in Bon Accord Mark Lodge.