It is the oldest fraternal organisation in the world; and began with a group of builders who first gathered in the Middle Ages in Europe to build cathedrals and, later, some of the world’s great architectural structures.

But at the heart of the Freemasons, is secrecy, too. It’s against the rules to speak, publicly, about what happens in this order, which has chapters around the world.

Today, investigative journalist Charlotte Grieve, about the 31 current and former freemasons who spoke to her to expose what they say is a crisis of bullying, nepotism and financial mismanagement, within the Victorian Freemasons chapter. And why some allege that the organisation’s focus has shifted from charity, to property development.

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