Brief History of the Wakering & Barling Lodge No. 9790

Like a lot of good ideas, the notion of forming a Lodge to represent the Wakering and Barling area, started in a local hostelry. A discussion was taking place among Freemasons who lived in the locality about the history of Wakering and the surrounding area and the fact that no Lodge existed with the Wakering or Barling name.

One of our members had been doing some research into his family history and had amassed a wealth of information on the local area. The area known as Essex, to which the Normans came to in 1066, had been settled by the Saxons for over 500 years. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the names of Wachelinga (Great Wakering), Wacherlinga (Little Wakering) and Barlinga (Barling), although historical remains and field boundaries found in the area suggests that it may even date back to Roman times.

What is more certain is that the suffix “-ing” is an early Saxon ending, dating from before 500 AD, meaning ‘the people of’. Indeed it is suggested that the area was settled by an East Saxon tribe ‘The Waeccer’, although Waeca has also been claimed as a typical eighth Century Norse name. Certainly Norse tribes were very active in the area, as Havengore has a typical Norse ending (Gore meaning muddy). Thus ‘Wakering’ is assumed to have meant ‘The people of Waeccer’.

With determination and hard work, the Lodge was finally formed and was Consecrated on the 6th January 2005. It is the aim of this Lodge to promote Freemasonry in the Wakering & Barling area and to support local as well as national charities.