The Order

The Commemorative Order of St Thomas of Acon.

The Masonic Order of St. Thomas of Acon was constituted in 1973 under charter from The Grand Master's Council.

The Order was established in 1974 as a result of twenty years' research in the Guildhall Library in London by John E. N. Walker, who for many years was the Secretary General of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. The ancient records of the Order, written in medieval French and Latin, had been deposited in the Guildhall Library and thus escaped the Great Fire of 1666.

The Order now operating under the official title The Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon is an independent British Christian masonic organization. 

The ceremonies are based on the foundation of the Order in 1191, at the Siege of Acre, following its conclusion by Richard I, when Priestly Knights heavily engaged in helping treat, or bury, those Crusaders who had been injured, or killed, during the battles. It became a Military, or Knightly, Order about 1279, receiving Papal confirmation as such, and continued in a fighting role until dissolved, with others, in 1538 by Henry VIII, during the Dissolution of Monasteries. 

Membership of the Order is restricted to those who are subscribing members of a Preceptory in amity with the Great Priory of the United Religious, Military and Masonic Order of the Temple of England and Wales and Provinces Overseas (commonly referred to as the Knights Templar). Membership is by invitation.