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The hidden Masonic Temple inside Andaz hotel at Liverpool Street (Alamy)

Up the stairs, round the corner, down some steps and I am in one of London’s truly special places. It’s the Masonic Temple, hidden away inside the Andaz hotel at Liverpool Street.

The windowless room is untouched, exactly as it was when it opened for the Freemasons’ ritual ceremonies in 1912.

Around the walls are hand-carved mahogany seats, there are leather and gold thrones at either end, a chequered marble floor, columns made from 12 types of marble, bronze candelabras with clawed feet, a blue and gold ceiling with a five-pointed star and zodiac symbols, even an organ. It’s spectacular, grade II listed, and utterly incongruous, located deep in a luxury hotel.