«The Ancient Grand Lodge of England, as it is known today, or The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons (according to the Old Constitutions granted by His Royal Highness Prince Edwin, at York, Anno Domini nine hundred and twenty six, and in the year of Masonry four thousand nine hundred and twenty six) as they described themselves on their warrants was a rival Grand Lodge to the Grand Lodge of England. It existed from 1751 until 1813 when the United Grand Lodge of England was created from the two Grand Lodges. They are now called the Antients, in contrast to the Moderns, the original Grand Lodge who had moved away from the ritual of Scotland, Ireland, and now the Antient Grand Lodge. This Grand Lodge was also informally called the Atholl Grand Lodge because the Third and Fourth Dukes of Atholl presided over it as Grand Masters for half of its 62-year existence.
Although the Grand Lodge never spelled Antient with a 't', the convention was followed by the Moderns, and continues to be used by United Grand Lodge. Some confusion arises from the Ancients' own documentation. Their seals are inscribed Grand Lodge in London of Free and Accepted Masons According to the Old Institution(s), while in their masonic certificates, issued to new members, they called themselves the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England according to the Old Constitutions.
In 1823, the mishandling of grievances of a few Lancastrian masons led to an attempt to revive the Ancients in what has come to be known as the Wigan Grand Lodge. Mistrust of the new Grand Lodge was already simmering when the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting at Manchester in 1818 asked that the book of constitutions be amended to state that a lodge must hand back its warrant if membership falls below 7, instead of the 5 stated. Further concern was shown when some masons in Bath were told that it was "not desirable to make the Number of (Royal Arch) Chapters in any place equal to the Number of Lodges." The low minimum implied that it was possible to run a lodge without Deacons, in the manner of the Moderns ritual, and the Ancients had looked on the Royal Arch as the fourth degree, making the formation of a Chapter the duty of every lodge. These queries, prompted by a concern as to a creeping return, or even imposition, of Modernism on old Ancient's lodges, were ignored by Grand Lodge. This led to a more strongly worded remonstrance in 1820. As the local province failed to deal with increasing animosity, in 1822 the 34 masons who signed the last document were suspended by Grand Lodge, and one Liverpool lodge was erased. Although many of the rebels returned to the fold, or left masonry altogether, the harshness of their treatment drew support from other lodges in the North West of England. A new Grand Lodge was formed in Liverpool in 1823, calling itself the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England according to the Old Constitutions. From 1825, it met only in Wigan. As the original dispute was gradually forgotten, its twelve or more lodges were re-absorbed by UGLE, although the last did not rejoin until 1913. It ceased to function as a Grand Lodge in 1866», in, Clarence Opperman.
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