It is an invitation only, Masonic society dedicated to preserving the history, rituals, and traditions of medieval operative stonemasons guilds in England and Europe that were the precursors to modern speculative Freemasonry.
[3][4] By the early 1900s two people in particular, Clement E. Stretton of Leicester and John Yanker of Manchester took the cause of reviving the guild and ensuring practices did not become extinct.
[3] Stretton lived long enough to pass information to John Carr and a Lodge was formed in London in the mid 1910s enabling the traditions of the guild to be preserved.
[5] The origins of Operative Masons can be traced to the stonemasons guilds that constructed castles, cathedrals, churches, abbeys, bridges and other major buildings in England, Scotland, France and across Europe during the Middle Ages.
[8] As early as the 10th century, a Grand Assemblage of operative masons was held in York, reputedly under the royal patronage of King Athelstan.
[13] In the 17th century, honorary non-stonemason members were increasingly admitted to lodges in Scotland and England, eventually outnumbering the operative masons.
Under the Premier Grand Lodge, Masonic ritual shifted focus from the stonemasons’ craft toward moral teachings and allegorical ceremony.
[16][17] The earliest known ritual exposure, Samuel Prichard's Masonry Dissected, published in 1730, revealed a system of three symbolic degrees that likely developed in the late 17th century.
This work traced Freemasonry to biblical and classical antiquity, transforming operative stonemasonry into a universal philosophical movement.
Its central myth focused on the construction of King Solomon's Temple, with authority resting in the figure of the Master Mason and secrets guarded by modes of recognition.
[21] In the early 1900s, several surviving operative lodges in the York Division sought to preserve their traditional history and rituals before they were lost forever.
[38] A unique aspect is the annual Ancient Drama depicting the death of Hiram Abiff, adapted from the medieval legend of the martyred master mason of the Temple.
According to the Operatives, The Worshipful Society served as a direct model and inspiration for the ritual structure adopted by speculative Freemasonry in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
[41] The two fraternal orders remain closely intertwined through their use of initiation rituals, symbolism, moral charges and mythological legends surrounding Temple construction.
For modern Freemasons, the Operative Masons provide a living link to the medieval stonemasons guilds from which speculative Masonry emerged.