Officially known as the "Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers", the Operatives is an invitational body dedicated to the preservation of the history and workings of operative masonry. The legend of Operative Masonry goes back to the Assemblage held by King Athelstan back in 926 AD and by the 20th century only a few Operative Lodges still existed in England, and many feared the lessons and rituals would fall from human memory. On May 21st, 1913, the Channel Row Assemblage (now known as Bedford House) was reconstituted and this date is considered the founding date of the Operatives.
This organization exists to perpetuate a memorial of the practices of operative Free Masons existing prior to modern speculative Freemasonry. To be considered eligible for invitation into this body, one must be a Master Mason, Mark Master Mason, and a Companion of Royal Arch Masonry.
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