Welcome to the website dedicated to the Division of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, of the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and the Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and St John the Evangelist.

This Division is one of 26 in the UK controlled from the Grand Imperial Conclave of the Order.  There are additional Divisions and unattached Conclaves overseas.  Grand Imperial Conclave is headed by the Grand Sovereign, and assisted by Grand Officers and a secretariat which is based at Mark Masons Hall, London.

I was honoured and very privileged to be Appointed as the Intendant-General of this Division on the 1^st April 2021 and look forward to many years bringing the message of this wonderful Order to many masons.  I am assisted by a Deputy Intendant-General, a Divisional Recorder (equivalent to the Provincial Secretary) and an executive of senior members.

Units of the Order are known as Conclaves and there are ten of these in this Division, with a total membership of around 160 knights. Of these Conclaves, nine are in Hampshire and one is on the Isle of Wight.  One of the Hampshire Conclaves is for Enthroned Sovereigns of the Order.  Members pride themselves on producing high standards of ritual and all of the ceremonies are worked within the (working) Conclaves.

One of the delights of the Order is that there is much inter-visiting.  Sovereigns regularly visit other Conclaves whilst they are in the chair, thus gaining experience and making new friends. There is an active Divisional Guard, of which membership is eagerly sought and the Guard enjoy at least one visit to every Conclave each year. In addition they assist at the annual meeting of the Divisional Conclave and have a duty to perform during some of the ceremonies.

Every candidate for admission into the Order must be a Royal Arch Mason and profess his belief in the Trinitarian Christian Faith.

There are five ceremonies embodied in the Orders, which form a complete ritual. These are made up of three individual ‘rituals of admission’, into the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in a Conclave, into the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in a Sanctuary and into the Order of St John the Evangelist in a Commandery.  The other two degrees are ‘chair degrees’, comprising entrance to the two major positions in the Conclave, the Sovereign and the Viceroy.

It is our intention to expand the order, to consolidate the Conclaves we have operating at the moment and in the future to create new Conclaves creating a better geographical coverage of the Division.

Yours in Faith, Unity and Zeal
R. Ill. Kt. Steven Groeger, Intendant-General