Founding of Premier Grand Lodge

Date: June 24, 1717 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The first Grand Lodge of Freemasonry, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London.

A Grand Lodge is the name for the overarching governing or supervisory body of a fraternal organization that uses the term “Lodge” for its local chapters. While some organizations have one single Grand Lodge that supervises all local Lodges worldwide, others have multiple, independent, Grand Lodges which supervise their local Lodges within given areas - usually a city, state, or country. In the latter case, relations between the various Grand Lodges are governed by treaties of recognition and reciprocity.