HERITAGE NOOSA
HERITAGE NOOSA
Cooroora Masonic Temple (former)
DETAILS
Description
The former Cooroora Masonic Temple was erected in 1923, following the success of Freemasonry in Pomona from its inception in 1913. For the first ten years of its existence, the Cooroora Lodge met in a hall at the Noosa Showgrounds. On 22 May 1923, the Trustees of the Lodge purchased a block of land across the road from the railway station. A temple was erected using volunteer labour and cost £800. The first meeting in the new building was held on 23 June 1923.
In 1925, William (Bill) Hodge began a project to embellish the temple with murals based on those in the Masonic Temple at the Criterion Restaurant, London. These murals remain intact and are replicas of the Criterion murals. Working mainly in the evenings, Hodge painted trompe l’oeil murals on all four internal walls of the lodge room. The Criterion murals were featured in an article in the September 1921 edition of an English Masonic magazine, 'The Masonic Record'. Using the small black and white photographs accompanying the article as a guide, Hodge reproduced the scenes of classical and biblical architecture on the walls of the Pomona temple. Between 1925 and 1928, he painted the eastern and western walls, and between 1932 and 1934, the southern and northern walls. Hodge mixed the lead-based paints himself, using a neutral palette of beige, grey, black, and white. During both periods, he worked by kerosene light, as electricity was not supplied to Pomona until 1941.
The subjects and symbols depicted are integral to Masonic tradition and philosophy. Although materially modest in value reflecting the economic status of the small community who met there, the murals provide a sense of richness and elegance to what would otherwise be a very simple interior. They are valued and have been cared for by the members, remaining in good condition. It is believed that the Criterion Restaurant and the original murals were destroyed in the bombing of London during WWII, and that no other known copies of the murals have been made.
Freemasonry arrived in Australia with the first European settlers and spread from New South Wales into Queensland through individual lodges. A group of seventeen Masons in Pomona applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland to form a Lodge under the Scottish Constitution, which was consecrated as Lodge Cooroora No. 1128 on 15 November 1913. In 1920, the Lodge affiliated with the Grand Lodge of Queensland under the English Constitution and on 21 April 1921, it joined the United Grand Lodge of Queensland as Cooroora Lodge No. 232.
The number of Lodge members peaked in 1965 at 55. Falling membership numbers and a lack of funds to maintain the building led to it passing into private ownership.Address9, Station Street, Pomona
The former Cooroora Masonic Temple was erected in 1923, following the success of Freemasonry in Pomona from its inception in 1913. For the first ten years of its existence, the Cooroora Lodge met in a hall at the Noosa Showgrounds. On 22 May 1923, the Trustees of the Lodge purchased a block of land across the road from the railway station. A temple was erected using volunteer labour and cost £800. The first meeting in the new building was held on 23 June 1923.
In 1925, William (Bill) Hodge began a project to embellish the temple with murals based on those in the Masonic Temple at the Criterion Restaurant, London. These murals remain intact and are replicas of the Criterion murals. Working mainly in the evenings, Hodge painted trompe l’oeil murals on all four internal walls of the lodge room. The Criterion murals were featured in an article in the September 1921 edition of an English Masonic magazine, 'The Masonic Record'. Using the small black and white photographs accompanying the article as a guide, Hodge reproduced the scenes of classical and biblical architecture on the walls of the Pomona temple. Between 1925 and 1928, he painted the eastern and western walls, and between 1932 and 1934, the southern and northern walls. Hodge mixed the lead-based paints himself, using a neutral palette of beige, grey, black, and white. During both periods, he worked by kerosene light, as electricity was not supplied to Pomona until 1941.
The subjects and symbols depicted are integral to Masonic tradition and philosophy. Although materially modest in value reflecting the economic status of the small community who met there, the murals provide a sense of richness and elegance to what would otherwise be a very simple interior. They are valued and have been cared for by the members, remaining in good condition. It is believed that the Criterion Restaurant and the original murals were destroyed in the bombing of London during WWII, and that no other known copies of the murals have been made.
Freemasonry arrived in Australia with the first European settlers and spread from New South Wales into Queensland through individual lodges. A group of seventeen Masons in Pomona applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland to form a Lodge under the Scottish Constitution, which was consecrated as Lodge Cooroora No. 1128 on 15 November 1913. In 1920, the Lodge affiliated with the Grand Lodge of Queensland under the English Constitution and on 21 April 1921, it joined the United Grand Lodge of Queensland as Cooroora Lodge No. 232.
The number of Lodge members peaked in 1965 at 55. Falling membership numbers and a lack of funds to maintain the building led to it passing into private ownership.Address9, Station Street, Pomona
IDENTIFIERS
Cooroora Masonic Temple (former). Heritage Noosa, accessed 12/02/2026, https://heritage.noosa.qld.gov.au/nodes/view/24467
