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Somerset Lodges
Nyanza Lodge No. 1197

warranted 1867
Regular meetings: the second Tuesday at 18.30hrs Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
Installation meeting: the second Tuesday at 17.00hrs Mar.
Contact the Lodge Secretary: B J Baker


Meeting at
The Masonic Hall
Court Barton
Ilminster
TA19 0DY

The first lodge to be formed in Ilminster was the Lodge of Unanimity No 523 in 1788, but due to lack of support this Lodge moved to Taunton in 1797 where it still exists today as Lodge of Unanimity and Sincerity No 261.

It was not until 1867 that another attempt was made to establish a Masonic Lodge in Ilminster, with the formation of the Nyanza Lodge No 1197, so named after Lake Victoria Nyanza in Africa, in honour of the local man, Captain J H Speke, who had discovered the source of the River Nile.

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