A group of women engaged in sorting out leftovers from village fetes at Fringford Village Hall came across what looked like a wooden protective covering for electric cables or water pipes.

On closer inspection the ‘covering’ was found to be a long, slim box. On opening it, the women discovered that it contained a rolled up banner and two long wooden poles.

When they unfurled it, they discovered the beautiful double-sided banner pictured above. It originally belonged to the Loyal Mansfield Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows (Manchester Unity).

The banner had pictures on either side with the slogans All Men Are Brethren and United We Stand, Divided We Fall.

Realising they had uncovered something valuable and a piece of Fringford history the women, all members of the Fringford Women’s Institute, set about finding out more of the background to the banner.

Linda Mustill, secretary to the village hall committee, said: “We were amazed to find the banner and in such good condition with all the colours well-preserved. No one knew anything about the Oddfellows.”

The WI members enlisted the aid of local historian Martin Greenwood.

He found an old, forgotten, certificate hanging on a wall in the village hall which yeilded some clues.

Apparently the lodge was formed in 1872, and the certificate turned out to be the official recognition of the lodge and was dated January 13, 1875, in “the thirty-fifth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen Defender of the Faith.”

Underneath were the names of nine witnesses, who were all founding ‘brothers’ of the lodge.

Mr Greenwood found that the lodge was named after the Mansfield family, who farmed at Hall Farm, Fringford, from the 1850s to the late 1930s.

“Meetings were held at the Mansfield’s farm,” Martin explained. “Oddfellows were once regarded as the poor man's freemasons. Members paid into the lodge and funds were shared out at Christmas and payments were also made to members who became unemployed. There was also some insurance provided at the time of illness.”

The banner was paraded through the village following a special service in the parish church at the old Whitsun in May.

An old photograph dated from around 1900-1910 (above) shows the banner being paraded as part of an annual procession outside the church.

Mr Greenwood has discovered than the Order of Oddfellows was established in 1452, with roots going back to medieval craft and trade guilds.

In the mid-1700s, as a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Oddfellows divided. The Order of Patriotic Oddfellows, based in the south of England, supported William of Orange, while The Ancient Order of Oddfellows, based in the north-east, favoured the Stuarts.

After the failure of Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising in 1743, there was a partial amalgamation of the two Orders, which became The Grand Order of Oddfellows, now commonly known as The Grand United Order of Oddfellows.

In 1813, members in the Manchester area formed an independent order with the title of Manchester Unity, which became known as The Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows.

By 1850, the Indpendent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society had become the largest and richest friendly society in Britain.

Under the 1875 Act of Parliament, friendly societies were acknowledged by the Government and membership was encouraged.

When Asquith’s Liberal government in 1911 was setting up the National Insurance Act, the Oddfellows protected so many people that the Government used their actuarial table to work out the level of contributions and payments required.

At the time the Oddfellows organisation was the largest friendly society in the world, with more than 20,000 branches, or lodges.

The oragnisation went in to decline after the Second World War and the arrival of the welfare state.

Lodges, like those at Fringford, began to close down in the 1950s, and their banners put away. It is believed that the Fringford banner had not seen the light of day for at least a quarter of a century.

Being stored away safely in its wooden box on the floor of the village hall storage room ensured its survival in excellent condition.

Mr Greenwood has also researched the makers of the banner. He found that it came from George Tuthill’s flag and banner factory in London.

Tuthill was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire but set up his works in London’s City Road.

“It was skilled work and Tuthill had to import a special loom from France to weave banners and flags,” Mr Greenwood said.

The company was bombed out of London in the Blitz in the Second World War and found a new home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, where it still thrives.

It has been decided that the Fringford banner should be presented to the National Museum of Labour in Manchester, which has a big collection of lodge and union banners.

“The museum has only about 14 examples of Tuthill banners. So our banner, which is about 12ft square, will be a welome addition to their collection,” Mr Greenwood said.