Core documents
Welcome to the home of the South Wales Masonic Research Library, hosted by the Albert Edward Court Lodge of Research, No. 9908. The library itself is located on the grounds of the RMBI Residential Home - Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court in Porthcawl and is looked after by volunteers. The inventory consists of a number of items donated by Lodges and individuals over the years as well as collections rehomed from other Masonic Centres. Currently, there are a relatively small number of books available for researchers to view at the library by appointment only. There are, however, more books being catalogued by our volunteers on a regular basis, as well as other resources which will become available in time. Please feel free to browse our collection using the menu above
Our Archive collection includes a vast quantity of resources sent from other Masonic Centres, including Bridgend and Cardiff.
These include minute books and registers and other items from Lodges going back over 200 years
We also have several miscellaneous documents donated from private collections.
Many of these are very old and delicate so are not suitable for general display.
It is hoped that, in time, digitised versions will become available to view on this website
If you'd like to visit the library, or have a general message or question for the Library Team, use the menu on the left.
Please remember that your query will be handled by a volunteer who may not be in a position to respond straight away.
For general research queries, you may find that asking the question on the Research Community Forum will get a faster response.
We have a rapidly growing collection of online publications available to you.
These include Research papers and Articles written by the Brethren on the Lodge as well as video recordings of presentations and lectures.
It is hoped that some of the older items in our archive will be added here over time so that they can be made available to researchers without the risks of regular handling of these documents which date back hundreds of years.
The first of these to be made available, thanks to the tireless work of VWBro Dr Paul Calderwood, is the entire back catalogue of The Craftsman, a Masonic Newspaper published in Cardiff between 1894 and 1903
