How old is Freemasonry?

Nobody really knows. Its origins certainly date back many centuries to the stonemasons who built the great cathedrals of Europe in the Middle Ages and even beyond. The tools that they used, and the somewhat exclusive society of those days, are still used symbolically in our Lodges and in the general structure of our Craft. The actual practices, procedures and basic principles that are used worldwide were formalised with the establishment of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1717 and have remained largely unchanged since then.