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Date: 1886-1887 Type: Masonic Hall Status: Extant

Free Masonry was established in the diamond fields during the early 1870s. The Union Lodge was founded by a warrant granted by the Grand Lodge of Scotland; the founding ceremony took place on 7 April 1886 in the Good Templars' Hall. The cornerstone of this building was laid on 18 December 1886 and the inauguration was on 28 January 1887. (Richardson Deidré, 2001:60.) The Union Lodge initiated the erection of this building in 1886 after the Freemasons at the diamond fields of Kimberley realised the necessity to have an own Temple. It is a single storey corrugated iron structure with a saddle roof and centrally placed air vent. A veranda is found to the rear of the building. Declared a National Monument on March 10, 1989 by Government Notice No: 11728. It is now a Provincial Heritage Site. (THE PROPERTIES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE RESOURCES AGENCY pp21) References: Bawcombe, Philip & Scannell, Ted. 1976. Philip Bawcombe's Kimberley. Johannesburg: Village Publishing. pg 85 Richardson, Deirdré. 2001. Historic Sites of South Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. pg 60