This volume contains chapters covering the arrival of Freemasonry in Sheffield during the second half of the eighteenth century and the development of the Craft over the next two centuries, finishing with the situation in 2017 which marks the three hundreth anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. The central section of the book contains summary histories of the thirty-eight Craft lodges which meet or have met with the city boundaries of Sheffield. Four of these lodges have surrendered their warrants during the last ten years, but the remaining thirty-four continue to meet in the two Masonic Halls at Dore in the Province of Derbyshire and Tapton Hall in the Province of Yorkshire, West Riding.

Dr John Wade is a Past Master of Fellowship Lodge No. 4069 (Yorkshire, West Riding) and the founding Master of Amadeus Lodge No. 9539 (Derbyshire), both meeting in the city of Sheffield. He is also a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, the premier lodge of Masonic research, meeting at Great Queen Street in London, and was the Prestonian Lecturer for 2009. As the Editor of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum (AQC) for the last eight years he is well versed in Masonic research, but intends this history of Sheffield Freemasonry to be suitable for the general reader as well as those more deeply immersed in Masonic studies.