The Holy Royal Arch is the only degree other than the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason that is controlled by the United Grand Lodge of England. The UGLE does not consider it a fourth degree, but regards it as an extension to the Craft degrees. It provides resolution to the story of Hiram Abiff and the Master Word and is an essential element in appreciating the traditional history of many of the appendant Masonic Orders.
 
It is no secret that many people, coming to the Royal Arch directly from the Master Mason, are baffled by it. While it has been described as the completion of the Third Degree, this interpretation is somewhat simplistic. Although it gives resolution to the story of Hiram Abiff and the lost secrets, it also advances the practical lessons of the Craft by developing the spiritual aspects which had been introduced in the Third Degree. In the Royal Arch this now becomes the central message. It is very different from the familiar territory of the Craft and this can be a challenge to grasp. It is grounded on a clear narrative, but much of its deeper symbolism remains elusive and needs time to properly appreciate. This difficulty is partly because the Royal Arch was, in the past, approached through various intermediate rituals which do not now form part of the English Constitution.
 
Admission to the Royal Arch was originally restricted to those who had achieved the Chair of a Craft Lodge, and many of our ancient brethren would have experienced a longer and more symbolical installation ceremony - essentially an ‘Installed Master’ degree - than that which survives as our present inner working*. The restriction to Installed Masters was dropped in 1834, and since then all Master Masons have been eligible to become Royal Arch Masons. Under the Scottish Masonic Constitution, which still preserves many of the older practices, no one can be exalted into the Royal Arch without previously having been advanced as a Mark Master Mason. In Scotland, the Mark degree can be conferred either within a Craft Lodge after having attained the degree of Master Mason, or within a Royal Arch Chapter before taking the degree of Excellent Master. This Excellent Master degree, also called Passing the Veils, is practised in Scotland, Bristol and elsewhere as a further necessary precedent to exaltation in the Royal Arch. The Veils ceremony was abandoned under the English Constitution**, but its influence can still be discerned in the Royal Arch during the installation of the Principals, in the colours of the regalia, and in some of the formal Steps taken during the ceremony.
 
One of the Allied Masonic Degrees – the Order of Grand High Priest – was also in some traditions a preparation to attaining the Third Principal’s Chair in the Royal Arch.
 
So, whilst the Royal Arch can be challenging, it is also captivating and beautiful. It opens the door to the more esoteric traditions of Freemasonry and provides abundant food for deeper reflection. Together with the Mark degree, it rounds off the Craft and, for those who wish to make a further advancement in Masonic knowledge, unlocks the way to the appendant Masonic Orders.
 
 
*Versions of this early Installation ritual are still practised by a few English Lodges under license. We are fortunate that, in our Province, Cowper and Newton Lodge, meeting at Olney, works a full version, while Fairway Lodge, meeting at Aylesbury, has an inner working that incorporates some elements of the longer ritual.
 
** Recently, the Grand Council of the Order of Royal and Select Masters, through a concord with the Grand Lodge of Scotland, adopted the Excellent Master as an additional degree, available to past masters of the Order. The four central degrees of the Order of Royal and Select Masters elucidate the ancient historical events connecting the Craft with the Royal Arch. One needs to be a Royal Arch Mason and a Mark Mason to qualify for admission to the Order.

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