1864: The St Peter's Masonic Lodge had been founded at the Angel inn on Narrow Street in 1802. Over the next fifty years, the lodge found a variety of 'homes' , eventually settling in the newly built Wentworth Hotel in Wentworth Street, where one of their members was taking over as manager. However, in 1859 they decided that it would be to their advantage to have their own, purpose-built, Masonic Hall. That idea finally began to be a reality in September 1863 when a plot, once occupied by Squire's Brewery, was purchased for £100. There, on the corner of Lincoln Road and North Street, they built a new two-storey hall at the cost of £323. It was consecrated on this Friday. The lodge only occupied the first floor, letting the ground floor to brewers and wine & spirit merchants Elijah Eyre and Co. of Kings Lynn. Eyre and Co. also owned the Ostrich Inn next door to the new lodge, the Wheatsheaf in Eastfield Road and the Smithfield Arms in Midgate. While their meeting were now held in their new Masonic Hall, the lodge's Festive Board and Ladies' Festivals continued to be held at the Wentworth Hotel. Makes sense to me. (Peterborough Local History Society Magazine)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.