The name Clerestory was proposed in 1946, by Worshipful Brother Frederick Smith in a letter to his son, Worshipful Brother Paul B. Smith. He is noted as saying that the only reference to a window in Masonry is a ‘dormer’ which suggests an attic window admitting little light. He continued in his suggestion that: “the Clerestory was the means of admitting God’s light to God’s house”. The lodge was fully consecrated the following year.
This is an illustration of the relative position of a clerestory window in an ecclesiastical (gothic) setting:
The Clerestory Lodge logo, was designed from the photograph included here. The photograph, which at the time was believed to show a clerestory window, (see below) was taken in a church at Hitchin, Herts. This origin is to this day reflected in Clerestory Third-Degree ceremonies when it is declared that the “…ornaments of a Master Masons’ Lodge are the Porch, Dormer or Clerestory and the Square Pavement ….”
It is interesting to examine the development of the Clerestory Lodge logo in more detail. From this research, it has become evident that the reference “…the Church in Hitchin, Herts…” can more specifically can be identified as St. Mary’s Church, of that town. Some more modern photographs of that building are included here.
When re-examining the 1946 photograph included above, and in particular studying the window’s tracery, it becomes apparent that it is not a clerestory window. If it is compared to the more modern photographs below, it becomes evident that the church’s clerestory windows are a completely different shape and style to that depicted in 1946. Additionally, upon closer inspection of the photograph, it would appear that the actual clerestory window is visible above that which is the basis of the Lodge’s badge.
In terms of its representation in the Clerestory Lodge logo, the interpretation of light shining through a window is entirely appropriate given the reference contained in the Third Degree Ceremony, even if the actual source of the information leading to that logo may have originally been an incorrect interpretation.
In 2021 the Lodge Logo was revised and was based upon photographs of the clerestory windows in Tewksbury Abbey. The frame of the logo became more ornate and the year of founding the Lodge was added. Otherwise the theme of light shining through a window to enlighten the beholder (both physically and figuratively) is retained.
The Lodge motto similarly reflects this theme; it being “Lux Tua Via Mea” or “Your Light is Our Way”
