Masons Company
A Gild Merchant was granted to Durham by Henry II to which all of the town’s traders and craftsmen belonged. There were at one time as many as 20 guilds in Durham, one of which was the Society of Rough Masons, Wallers and Slaters, which was established in 1411 and received a charter from the Bishop of Durham in 1594.
The Guild of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Paviours, Plasterers and Bricklayers was established in the City of Durham in 1594.
Records of the Masons’ Company
Reference: DCG 10
Dates of creation: 1606-1961
Extent: 7 volumes; 8 items
Records of the Masons’ company, formerly the Freemasons, Rough masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviours, Plasterers and Bricklayers, can be viewed via the Special Collections Catalogue.
Records Summary
| Orders: | 1606-[1617], 1657-1777, 1793-1829 |
| Accounts: | 1606-1658, 1776-1909 |
| Minutes: | 1617-1648, 1670, 1769-1776, 1808, 1834-1836, 1847-1849, 1906-1925, 1955 |
| Apprenticeship records: | 1617-1665, 1682-1902 |
| Admissions and freemen: | 1636, 1657-1706, 1772, 1784-1814, 1829-1844, 1861, 1910-1934, 1961 |
