Freemasonry’s long history includes its early development from organised bodies of operative stonemasons to the modern system of speculative lodges organised around regional or national “Grand Lodges”. It is widely accepted that Freemasonry emerged from the stonemason’s guilds of the Middle Ages in the British Isles. From the early 1700s, the organisation of Freemasonry spread from the UK to other countries in Europe and around the world. In the UK, the first Grand Lodge was formed in London in 1717 and subsequent Grand Lodges were established, providing each country with an organisation to regulate and oversee its own Masonic lodges. The development of Freemasonry in the UK has been integral to the growth and spread of Freemasonry worldwide.

In the UK, the medieval masonry trade was divided into three grades of craftsman: apprentices, journeymen and masters. Apprentices had to serve an apprenticeship of seven years before they were qualified to do masonry work, while masters were qualified to act as project managers and architects. During the 16th century, Scottish masonry formed a lodge system, where apprentices who had completed their apprenticeship could either pay to join the lodge as an ‘entered apprentice’, or choose to freelance on lower-grade building work as a ‘cowan’. Members of the lodge were referred to as ‘brothers’ and the master was the mason in charge of the lodge. In 1696, the first recorded ritual of an operative lodge was documented, which included the taking of an oath, the imparting of appropriate signs, a ‘Mason’s Word’, and a catechism. In later years, this was condensed into one ceremony for accepted masons.